Giving Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful for 2010

10. The blessing of steady employment and income for both Mark and myself.

9. Our friends at CUMC and the lessons we've learned from them.

8. A new digital camera this year! It has been my first one that's not a hand-me-down and
I love it!
(Even though I haven't been so good at posting the pictures here on our blog.)

7. The blessing of TWO vacations this year - Clifty Falls and Georgia

6. The move of Lance, Julie, and Jordan to Owensboro so they are just 3 hours away!
Finally they are close enough to see on weekends! :)

5. "Really" living in Greenwood - I have doctors and a dentist now. They are
all wonderful ladies who have helped me through the year so very much

4. Our evening Bible study. Sharing with each other every night has been such a blessing.

3. The love, patience, and support of friends and family. I am so thankful
for the internet and USPS as those systems keep us in touch.

2. Our house. I have loved it from the minute we saw it in January. I love that it is HOME

1. The blessing of eternal life and God's beautiful promise of hope!

Amy's Week

Mark has been out in South Dakota for the past 8 days visiting Matt, Jenn, and the girls, thus I have had my second week alone this year. In July when Mark went to lead scout camp, I sulked around and let myself be miserable about being left at home while he was out playing in the woods. So, this time, I told myself that I was going to enjoy it. And I did.

I spent last weekend cleaning the house from top to bottom. I LOVE doing this! Yes, I am a freak at times! :)

The first part of the week I worked and enjoyed watching tv/movies that I wanted to watch.

Wednesday night I had some lovely lakeview ladies over for make-your-own pizza night. It was such a blessing to fill our house with friends and to catch up on their lives.

Then I spent the rest of the week doing whatever I wanted and eating the dinners I wanted - an asparagus, cheesey casserole that Mark hates for one. And I bought myself the boots I have wanted for two years.

I feel that I have wisely and prayerfully used some of this alone time to talk with the Lord about what I have going on in my heart. I feel that I was given some clear answers and some hope for my struggles. I have been so busy this year being an assistant, a co-worker, a new friend, an old friend, and trying to be a perfect wife that I had forgotten to just be Amy. And so, just for a week, I've been just me. Mark will be home in a few hours and I will be refreshed and renewed and ready to be MarkandAmy again. Oh how I've missed him...

Ugly/Beautiful

I was walking out the door to work one morning and looked at our fence and saw this:


I thought, "Ugh! What kind of 'Secret Garden' do we have growing here?!"
I was annoyed with the weeds until I saw this:
God is so wonderful! Even through life's "weeds" he reveals that all of His creations are beautiful!

October Already?!

Where does the time go?! I wish I was as good at posting pics on here as some other blog friends but hopefully you can make time to catch up through my facebook albums if you want to see those.

September was filled with trips and visits once again. We enjoyed a weekend away with Mama, Dad, and Lu at Notre Dame! We shared classy pregame lunch with Great Uncle John, watched the Irish win over Notre Dame, and then spent a day in Amish Country and the Marshall Co. Blueberry festival.

Our other big news has been medical news. In August I finally broke down and went to the doctor for all of the problems that I had been experiencing this year. We discovered that my insulin levels were 10 points over the highest that they ever want them to be. I am, thankfully, NOT diabetic and my blood sugar is always well below the "pre-diabetic" levels so it is just become an issue of regulating and lowering my insulin levels. I am on week six of Metformin and doing much better already. I have lost 15 pounds already and the goal is at least five more before my doctor visit next month. I have also noticed that I am once again much happier and in control of my emotions as lowering my insulin levels has also improved my hormone levels. (Mark is glad to have a happy instead of teary wife) Please be praying as I continue to get everything level and normal again and please be praying for Mark as he puts up with me :)

God's Blessings on your fall season!

New Year's Resolution: August

I have officially failed at keeping my new year's resolution. My goal was to do one "Indianapolis" thing each month. Despite great weather we didn't manage to do much of anything in the city other than go to church. However, we had a great month doing lots of non-Indianapolis things:

- A weekend visit to Momaw's with Mama and Lu. A great girls weekend and a chance to visit Momaw and Aunt Nancy
- A weekend home, relaxing
- A Pizza Hut date with Treva
- A beautiful wedding in Crawfordsville, celebrating Joseph's birth and Joey and Liz's marriage
- The official beginning of Christmas shopping
- Preparing for Labor Day weekend and Mark's first trip to Notre Dame!

So, while I only managed to keep my resolution for seven months I am still thankful for all of the wonderful visits and times that were shared in August

Movie Project: August Recap

With more nice weather and weeekends out of town we didn't manage to see a lot of Academy Award winners but we did see the following: From Here to Eternity (1953), Kramer vs Kramer (1979), Braveheart (1995), and Shakespeare in Love (1998). With this month's viewings we are officially under 20 left to watch!

Random Act of Kindness

One day last week a man came into the jail lobby to turn himself into a warrant. For the sake of storytelling I'll call him Dave. He was with his wife and son and immediately I judged. I was so frustrated, as always, by the fact that his child was with him. I hate watching children watch their parents get arrested.

Moments later a young woman who had just been released came into the lobby, barefoot and crying. She told me that her family lived three hours north, that she needed to call them, and that she didn't have any shoes on her feet when arrested so she did not have any to wear now. I offered make a phone call for the young woman on our Admin phone but before she could give me all of the needed information a witnessed an incredible random act of kindness.

Dave stepped up to the young woman and said, "Here you can step outside and use our cell phone to call. That way you can talk as long as you would like." She stepped out, made her phone call, and then returned. Dave's wife handed the young woman her flip-flops and said, "Here, you may have my shoes. I am just driving home, I don't need them." Then Dave and his wife explained to their son that in life you will make mistakes, some of them you have to be arrested for, but you can always make them right. They also explained, and showed with their incredible kindness, that every moment is an opportunity to make someone else's day better.

I was amazed. Never in my life have I thought to give someone my shoes much less taken them off my feet and left somewhere barefoot.

What a wonderful reminder of God and His awesome presence in all aspects of our lives.

New Year's Resolution: July

July's "Indianapolis Event" was by far the most special of the year. We were blessed with a week long visit from Matt, Jenn, and our beautiful nieces Katherine and Elisabeth!

On Sunday, July 25, we shared in the baptism of Kati and Elli. The girls were bapitsed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Indianapolis. It was so special to see them becoming offical members of God's family in the church that the boys were raised in.

We are so thankful that Matt and Jenn were willing to travel SO far with their little ones so we could all meet them and love on them. It is hard to believe that next time we see them they will be almost nine months old! Dear God, please bless Matt and/or Jenn with a job a little closer so we can share more time together!

Movie Project: July Recap

Whew! With lots of visits and vacation I'm a bit behind on my end of the month posting.

Our July Academy Award Winners were: Mutinty on the Bounty (1935), Rebecca (1940), Mrs. Miniver (1942), All the Kings Men (1949), My Fair Lady (1964), and Gladiator (2000).

Rebecca has been by far my FAVORITE! I loved it! Everyone go find it and watch it!

Long Distance Love, Again

Mark is gone this week to lead his boy scout troop's summer camp. He will be gone 8 days, today being day 3, and I miss him already! This is the longest time that we have been apart since being married. I am glad that he is able to have time off work to do something that he loves so much but I am ready for Saturday to be here! Here's hoping for a phone call tonight...

New Year's Resolution: June

This month we spent a Saturday at the Trinity Lutheran Church and School garage sale and at their Boy Scout Troop's Car Show.

I LOVE garage sales and enjoyed looking through lots treasures. For $3 I managed to find, three books, two cake pans, four shirts, three pairs of pants, and a dree. Did I mention that I love garage sales?!

This was my third year attending the car show (Mark is a leader for the troop) and I enjoyed it so much! The weather was relatively cool and breezy for June and I had the wondeerful opportunity to catch up with a good friend. My friend Christine drove in from Greenfield to share the day with me. Christine and I met at Lakeview in the summer of 2000. We were "randomly" selected as cabin mates but have been thankful for God's placement of eachother in Miami that week and as friends for a decade!

Movie Project: June Recap

Due to beautiful summer weather and lots of time out with friends and family we only managed to enjoy three movies this month. Our June movies were: Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and Crash (2005).

We only have twenty something Academy Award winners left to see before our project is finished! Some nights, during the long movies we say that we can't wait for this self imposed project to be finished and then other nights we just enjoy being together, phones off, seeing little glimpses of the world through film.

Father's Day #2

We headed down to the cabin for Father's Day with my Dad. Friday night we gifted Dad with Mark's homemade BBQ rubs and sauces and some homemade Snickerdoodle cookies. We spent Saturday out on the lake, antiquing, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of BBQ Chicken and Mama's homemade macaroni and cheese. We ended the daylight hours with a pontoon boat ride that ended too soon when the boat broke down. Thank goodness for some neighbors who were kind and patient enough to tow us home! We played UNO late into the night and then headed to bed so we could wake up for some early morning canoing. Sunday was spent at Lincoln's Boyhood Home and eating ice cream at the Zip and Sip in Oakland City. It was SO wonderful to be home and to have a whole weekend with my family! This week we thank God for our Fathers.

Father's Day #1

Last night we had Brian, Kristi, and Luke over to celebrate Father's Day with them. (We will be going home to my family for Father's Day weekend so we wanted to visit with Brian before then) Mark cooked a wonderful meal: BBQ Ribs (with his homemade rub and BBQ sauce), grilled asparagus, homemade mashed potatoes, rolls, and I made pecan pie bars for dessert.

I grew up in a family that loves to grill out and thanks to 23 years of dinners with the Vukovich family I love big gatherings of family and friends. We're so excited to have the house and yard this summer. We love to cook and we love you so please come visit!!

Reminders of God's Amazing Love

This weekend has served as a wonderful reminder of God's AMAZING love.

Saturday:
- We drove to Columbus to celebrate the marriage of Luke and Katie Otte! May God bless you as you begin your life as Mr and Mrs.
- Thanks to the Otte's well timed ceremony and reception we had lots of extra time to go to Lakview! We enjoyed seeing lots of good friends and BIG hugs! We really enjoyed a long visit with John, Karen, and the new Mrs. Stair!
- Brian, Kristi, and Luke returned from their trip to South Dakota to visit Matt, Jenn, and the girls so we also enjoyed lots of pictures and stories about our beautiful nieces!

Sunday:
- We spent the day at Southeastway Park celebrating Erik's graduation! God's blessings on his new adventures in the Air Force!

Thank you God for the blessing of Christian marriage, wonderful friends, and new beginnings!

Move Project: May Recap

Our May movies were: It Happened One Night (1934), Gigi (1958), A Man For All Seasons (1966), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Ghandi (1982), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), American Beauty (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Slumdog Millionare (2008).

Many of this month's movies discussed issues of equality and social justice. Please pray for the people of the world and that God would use our actions and words to display peace to the world and for peace to enter the hearts of those who feel so much hate.

ONE

This past weekend we celebrated our FIRST wedding anniversary! We spent the weekend at Clifty Falls State Park at the Clifty Inn. We enjoyed some wonderful, early morning hiking. We were up early enough to avoid the heat and to be the first ones on the trail. We saw many beautiful creatures including a millipede as well as some playful chipmunks and groundhogs! We also spent a good deal of time in historic Madison, IN. I have to say that there was a alot to do and we're already planning a trip back next fall to see more!

As far as travel recommendations, I encourage everyone to visit Franco's in Downtown Madison. It's a little, family owned Italian restaurant where we enjoyed homemade pasta, sauces, and dessert. It was amazing! We always joke that our names and heritage are German-Irish but our stomachs are Italian. Good thing our loves match!

One Year. One Love. All thanks to the One God.

So a funny thing happened at work...

We work at a strange place. I mean a really strange place. People who work at stores or schools are always trying to tell us that they have a strange/difficult job and while I'm sure they do...we usually win the best story from work award though.

This past Monday I was out with the nurse on TB Rounds. This task involves going back into the cell blocks and either giving or reading TB tests. We are two of ten women that these inmates ever see. Nurse Nancy is a beautiful lady, but is also in her 50's, so I attract the (UNWANTED) attention of quite a few inmates. Nancy finds this to be hilarious and always says, "Amy, your boyfriend is waving hello." One such 'boyfriend' is housed in our maximum security blocks and has been winking at me since last fall. I ignore him. This week though he happened to tell an officer that he wanted me to call him. His mistake, he picked Officer Riley.

Oh the joys of working in corrections...

As this is my first blog about work I will also take this moment to ask you all to be praying for the millions of incarcerated people and their families in the United States. We are constantly frustrated by their repeated mistakes and failure to follow the law and so we pray for our inmates daily. Without God's help they will not ever reform their ways. Please also pray for the thousands of individuals who work in law enforcement and corrections. Pray with thanks for the many sacrifices that they make, the families they rarely see, the horrors they see on the job, and for their protection and safety.

New Year's Resolution: May

Just four days into this month I checked off my resolution for May. We spent Primary Election Tuesday at the Indianapolis Zoo! We were excited to learn that it happened to be Community Day at the zoo so we payed just $20 for admission and parking!! Woohoo! Thank God for Community Day!

I hadn't been to the Indy Zoo since I was little and was still excited to find so many beautiful animals! We really enjoyed the shark petting tank - where I made Mark stay for about a half hour. We also enjoyed the dolphin show!

The weather was beautiful, the price was right, and I loved watching so many of God's beautiful creatures with my beautiful husband!

Movie Project: April Recap

This month's movies were: The Godfather, Part II (1974), Annie Hall (1977), Terms of Endearment (1983), Amadeus (1984), Rain Man (1988), A Beautiful Mind (1999), and The Departed (2006).

After months of enjoying the early Academy Award winners we had decided that we needed a month of more recent films! These were all really great films (well, except for Annie Hall, we didn't love that one) and we were so glad to understand the references and the humor!!

New Year's Resolution: April

Our Indianapolis events in April were thanks to Mark's younger brother, Luke.

On the 14, we enjoyed Lutheran High School's presentation of Seussical. Luke played the Mayor of Whooville. It was such a good show! Lots of former campers were in it which also made it really special.

On the 24, we shared an afternoon of Prom pictures and fun with Luke and Cassidy. Beautiful! We are so blessed to have Luke as a brother and to have Cassidy as part of our family as well!

We are an aunt and uncle!!

Yesterday Mark's older brother (Matt) and his wife (Jenn) welcomed their beautiful baby girls to the world! We celebrate the birth of Miss Katherine Faye and Miss Elisabeth Marie!! We lift them up in prayer as the new Mommy and Daddy rest in the hospital and as God nurtures and grows Kati and Elli in the NICU. Wish we were there...

Sunny Days!

April has been absolutely beautiful here! This past Thursday we were both off work so we started the morning in Edinburgh at the concerete statue place to find a Mother's Day/80th Birthday gift for Momaw. Then we walked at the outlet mall - we were looking for shade since I forgot the sunscreen. We then enjoyed a salad bar lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and then found a new antique store that we'll be visiting lots now! We drove through Columbus and then decided we might as well spend the rest of the afternoon in Nashville. In Nashville I enjoyed the scrapbook store and the organic clothing place. Mark visited the cigar shop and then we both enjoyed some homemade ice cream. What a wonderful, warm, and sunny afternoon!! We left around four and I, like a little child, fell right to sleep and slept most of the way home. Once home we walked to the sushi place a few blocks from our house for dinner. It was wonderful! Oh how I love sunny days...

New Year's Resolution: March

For March's "Indianapolis Event" we spent a Sunday afternoon at the Indiana State Museum. They currently have a special Abraham Lincoln exhibit from the Smithsonian which was filled with original documents and Lincoln memorabilia. We also enjoyed three floors of history from Indiana:

The third floor was all about the animals who have lived in this region. It had lots of animal skins stuffed and also a really neat collection of stuffed birds. Usually it makes me sad to see animals that have been killed but I was thankful that the museum had kept these animal skins in such good condition so that people can learn from and enjoy them.

The second floor was a history of the people of Indiana from Native American and pioneer artifacts through current times. One of my favorite items was a senior skirt from a Carmel High Schools student in the 1950's. She had decorated it with the activities she was in, hobbies, and general interests. I had never seen one before and so I thought that was really quite neat!

The first floor was a study of fossils and the land itself. *Note: this floor's displays were all dated in scientific time so if you, like we, believe Biblical time to be the true age of the world you will just want to admire God's handiwork and ignore their carbon dating*

All in all we really enjoyed this special place to enjoy Indiana history! Ticket Admission: $7/Adults

Move Project: March Recap

Our March movies were: Cimarron (1931), Grand Hotel (1932), You Can't Take It With You (1938), A Gentleman's Agreement (1947), All About Eve (1950), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), The Sound of Music (1965), The Deer Hunter (1978), Out of Africa (1985), Platoon (1986), and Unforgiven (1992). Whew...what a month of movies!

A lot of this month's movies shared a similar theme of being content with what one has. We felt very blessed to watch them in our new home and to share time together in this project. We have now seen almost forty of the eighty something best pictures!!

The Merry Month of March

Now that we are a family without internet I've been terrible about updating. So here's what happened in March:

- A weekend visit from Mama, Dad, Lu, Momaw, and even Uncle Lance from Georgia. It was wonderful to have them see the house and to spend time with all of them!
- A Saturday visit from Arrika. I was reminded of the beautiful blessing of old friends and comfortable silences.
- Reports from Matt and Jenn that our nieces are doing well...Just a few more months and we'll be able to meet them! :)
- Mark went to jail school and finished second in his class on the exam!! He also had the best score for our department!
- A Tuesday off from work! Yay! Which was filled by a visit from Rosie. I am so thankful for a friend who encourages me in life and in the Word.

Those were our big happenings. This weekend Mark's friends from VU will be up for a birthday and we prepare for Holy Week!

Movie Project Update: February Recap

Our February Award winners were: The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957), The Apartment (1960), French Connection (1971), The Sting (1973), Ordinary People (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981), and The Last Emperor (1987).

No theme nights this past month, we were lucky enough just to fit these in during all of the moving madness. We did enjoy The Last Emperor on my birthday though which I thought was neat since it was the winner my birthday year! :)

New Year's Resolution: February

We didn't make it out to any museums this month however, we did make some big purchases for our house in Indy so we're counting those for my resolutions! We purchased a new washer and dryer (with help from Mama and Dad - Thank You!) and then today we purchased a big, comfy living room chair (with help from Brian and Kristi - Thank You Too!) So, one more month down, and more big city tasks completed.

Birthday and Valentine's Day

Friday I came home (to the house!!!) from work and Mark had made this to suprise me:

I had been compaining about my tiny mixing bowls, and making a giant mess in the kitchen, so Mark bought me shiny, GIANT, new ones and then decorated our new living room around them. And yes, for my 23rd birthday, we had a Hello Kitty theme.

Then on Valentine's Day Mark made us a wonderful homemade pasta dinner. He copied our favorite dish from Bucca's and made it even better!! What a wonderful husband I have!

Moving Right Along...

We successfully closed on the house on Thursday, not long after writing my last post! We were excited to find that Casey and Jessica (the sellers) had made us a "Welcome Home Sign" You can't read it in the picture but that's what the paper above our heads says!

I did some moving and cleaning Thursday night while Mark was working. Then Friday we both did more work and moving at the house and then the big move came Saturday! By 7:00 pm (thanks to all of our wonderful helpers - Brian, Kristi, and Luke, Crockett and Miller, Mason, and Mama and Dad) we were moved in, unpacked and decorated! Here we are in front of the house the next morning.

Closing Day!

We made it! Finally! Today is CLOSING DAY! We close at 4:00 this afternoon and then we're moving a bit tomorrow night with the final big stuff on Saturday!! Our goal is to get everything out of the apartment and into the house by Saturday evening. Then Sunday we'll unpack, share Valentines, and of course make it all about my birthday!!

Movie Project Update: January Recap

Thanks to Mama and Dad's Christmas gift of NetFlix we've been able to watch more Academy Award Winners for FREE!

January's movies were: The Broadway Melody (1929), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), The Great Ziegfield (1936), Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Marty (1955), and In the Heat of the Night (1967).

Our favorite was Best Years of Our Lives. It's the story of three men returning home from WWII. What was so amazing, was that the story is just as true today for our men and women returning home from Iraq. Their stories, their feelings, their readjustment to everyday life unfortunately so little has changed.

As many of the movies are about war, we have made a special point to thank God for the men and women who have served, and are serving, our country. We pray also, sometimes even more, for our enemies and for peace on earth.

New Year's Resolution: January

As I had mentioned before my New Year's Resolution is to do at least one "Indianapolis" thing each month. This month I managed two! :)

Last Thursday, Mark and I went to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art. I really enjoyed the Plains Indian art and I was thankful for our trip to South Dakota last spring. I think that having been out West a bit made me appreciate it all much more. I was also very excited by the Inuit Art, something that I had never seen before. They carved from whale bones and it was absolutely beautiful!

Last Saturday, Mama, Dad, and Lu were all in town and we made it up to an Indiana Ice game! It was very fun, although the Ice did lose. There were lots of contests between periods and even an on ice marriage proposal! I love few things more than a well planned proposal in the middle of a sporting event!

One month of Indianapolis events down...eleven more adventures to come

We're in Escrow!

From Gilmore Girls:
TJ: "Hey Luke, Your Sis and I, we're in escrow! We're in ESCROW!!"
Luke: "TJ, do you even know what that means?!"

Well, TJ may not have but WE do!! :) Yes, it's true! We've found a place to permanently call home!

You may be wondering, how did it happen?! We have been out driving looking at houses for fun and a few weeks ago we passed one and Mark said, "Stop and let's get the flyer." We did and he fell in love. I wasn't so sure but we looked it up online and I began to fall in love. So, to get some of the emotion out of our system, we waited a few days and then went to look at the property with a realtor. We loved it! We walked in the front door and it just felt: RIGHT. We waited another half a week before we looked again, we wanted to really process it, discuss it with a financial man, with our families, and then Monday evening we went to look again. At that point we knew, it was ours. An offer, a counteroffer, and quite a few signatures later and we're on our way!! An inspection, millions of more signatures, and in about a month it will really be ours! Our goal closing date is February 11!

I would post pictures, however my camera broke this week, today I'm going to buy a new one and then I'll post some after that.

End of Christmas and Resolutions

We made yesterday our last day of Christmas. I am always sad to take the tree down so we left it up one more night. We sat in our living room, glowing with the Christmas tree lights, and watched Christmas Vacation and Elf. Now I am ready to close the Christmas season.

And, seeing as yesterday was New Year's, I'll add our resolutions. I have always done them, usually accomplished them, and encourage everyone to set goals! Mark's New Year's Resolution is to visit his Great Grandma and Grandpa each month. They live about two miles down the road and yet we've only seen them a handful of times since moving here. My New Year's Resolution is to do one "Indianapolis" thing a month - meaning that I want to make time to do things like visit museums, maybe see a Colts game in person, etc. I so enjoyed city life while living in Louisville and here I just haven't taken advantage so...the journey begins...

HAPPY 2010!

Movie Project Update: December Recap

With December being such a busy month we decided to just try to squeeze some Academy Award winners without trying for theme nights. We manage to see four - a feat we thought to be impressive in the middle of everything else.

Our December movies were: The Life of Emile Zola (1937), West Side Story (1961), The English Patient (1996), and No Country for Old Men (2006).

We were surprised by the first two, they were both really good! We also enjoyed No Country for Old Men, probably because it was a sheriff movie which Mark loved. But The English Patient has been added to our list of all time least favorites. So...there's the December movie update.