TRIP TO INDY

(Our downtown Indianapolis during Final Four weekend)

(The parties happening on the streets of downtown Indianapolis during Final Four weekend)

(Lucas Oil Stadium from afar)
I'm sure you've guessed that we are back home in Florida country by now. We got home late Monday night after a wonderful week in Indiana with my parents and friends. I spent yesterday unloading suitcases, doing the dirty laundry, re-hanging the clean laundry, getting the kids ready to go back to school and so forth. I then made my way over to Best Buy and stood in a line the size of Texas in order to pick up my laptop. After thanking God about 1000 times for the legs he gave me to stand there in that line, I finally reached the counter and they handed my "baby" back to me. Apparently the LCD screen was defective so they replaced it for me. I am so thankful that I now have my left arm back. (a.k.a the laptop itself) It's been a very long three weeks without it. I haven't been able to edit any of my images or merely even play in photoshop since it has been gone. I am like an addict on crack tonight - getting my fix now that I have it back in my hands. I'm just running around the house - holding it close to my chest - grateful to have her home. Yes...I.AM.A.FREAK! Ha ha!

Anyway, back to our trip to Indiana. It was a blast. I got to spend some wonderful uninterrupted time with my parents. After being away from them for the first time in 34 years, I needed that desperately. It had been 4.5 months since I'd seen them last (other than via skype) and I was feending for their hugs. I spent 7 days coming and going there - just like I was a kid with my drivers license - driving their car again. LOL! My Step-Mom was ever so generous and gave me her SUV for the week while she drove her Mom's car back and forth to work. My Dad experienced some "growth" this week as he got to watch his Granddaughter finger print all of the windows in their car as she occupied and literally took over the backseat with her coloring books, crayons, diapers, crumbs, etc. As a young girl, I was never allowed to touch windows or fingerprint the car windows especially. Clearly Kenidi is his granddaughter and he must love her more because she got by with it and I never did. HA! In fact, I think he has rubbed off on me in my old age because her fingerprints drove me to the windex bottle on a couple of occasions whereas they never seemed to bother him one bit. My how times have changed. :)

Being that totally awesome and oh so cool Dad that my Dad is, he had tickets to the Final Four games and ultimately chose to take Brennen. He could have sold them 100 times over again or taken one of his buddies but instead he elected to take Brennen. I think that he pretty much ROCKS if you ask me. I tried explaining to Brennen how incredible it was that he was going to these games and that he was part of history in the making for the city of Indianapolis. However, I still don't think he understands the significance of it all yet. Maybe some day when he reflects on the memories of the night. The photo at the top of the blog and the one below are from the Final four festivities. We spent some time in downtown Indy just soaking in all of the action and feeling special because one of our home teams was in the championship games. Yes, Butler is the bomb! "Holla for the Colla" (as seen on my Dad's shirt above) became my favorite new phrase for the week. Although Butler lost to Duke in the final game, we are so very proud of our Bulldogs. They are amazing and gave the state of Indiana a great season. My Dad and Brennen had a fabulous time at the final four together - aside from Brennen dropping his iphone two stories down and shattering the screen on it. Yes, his same iphone that survived my washing it thru the washing machine last year. That phone has been cursed from the get-go apparently. :(

This shot below is horrendous due to the lighting inside our convention center but I still liked it. It is of my Dad and Brennen standing beside the final four championship trophy.

The next shot is one that I took right before we left to take Brennen and my Dad downtown for the games. Everyone, including my step mom Cathy, was wearing their Butler fan gear for the big event...

These next couple of shots are some of my favorites. My Dad has had motorcycles for as far back as I can possibly remember. I have vivid memories of quick rides with him as a young girl. He infuriates me though because he never wears his helmet and it worries me so very much. He'll wear his seat belt in the car but he won't wear his helmet when on his motorcycle. I feel like the child raising the parent when I harp on him about it. Either way, he has taken Brennen for rides on his bike before but Kenidi had never been. Until now. She got her first ride this past weekend and it brought back so many memories for me as I watched him and Cathy get her buckled into her helmet and up on the bike. Amazing how certain things trigger such strong childhood memories. Isn't it?

This shot below is of my Dad holding Kenidi while sitting in the driveway of my Grandma Dixie's house. We were hanging out with her for a bit and Kenidi was trying to escape down the sidewalks and into the street etc. Therefore, we had to keep her up in the chairs or else we'd have a "runner" on our hands. :) I snapped this one of her and my Dad laughing together and I just love it. Although I detest the cluttered background - which comes from the photographer within me - it is still a very meaningful and emotional snapshot for me. Soooooo llooovvvveeeeee it! Kenidi adores her grandparents.

These are just a few photos that I was able to get downloaded onto my computer thus far. I have over 200 from the whole week we were in town. I grabbed the ones that pulled at my heart strings most tonight and these were just a few of them. I began getting emails from blog readers telling me that they were "still" waiting on my new updates and pictures regarding our trip. So...I figured I'd better get back to blogging or else I just might have a riot on my hands. LOL! Thanks for caring and for even being interested in this little ol' life of mine. It means more than all of you will ever know.

I'll have more stories and more photos to come in regard to our trip back to Indiana. I'll just have to spread them out over a few days. I'm glad to be back in Florida but leaving my parents broke me once again. I made it all the way to the point where I went to hug them at the airport and say goodbye. At that moment...I lost it. I looked like a goof as I traveled thru the airport with mascara running down my face. I'm sure most thought I was there auditioning for the newest band member for the group KISS or something. Yeah...it was that bad. Then...Brent kept making the mistake of asking me if I was going to be ok and that only made it worse. Thankfully, I finally re-grouped and pulled my stuff together. I dried the tears and began counting the minutes until April 15th. On April 15th, my Dad is flying in to Ft. Myers to spend a few days on a guy trip with his buddies. They'll be down here boating and such. Thankfully, we get to steal him a time or two while he is in town with them. That piece of knowledge - knowing he was coming to my area in a couple of weeks - helped me to straighten up and get back in gear at the airport. I'm such a Daddy's girl and therefore...after having never been away from home in my 34 years of life, moving out of state -- away from my parents and girlfriends -- has just about killed me. The goodbyes - or the see you soons - are just downright painful. Someone please tell me that this WILL get easier.

For now, I'm off to go watch the results from American Idol tonight. And for those of you who've asked who my pick this year is or who I'm rooting for...you had to know I'd be rooting for "Lee" all the way. Love his scruffy/raspy voice. Love his humbleness and the way he gets so nervous. Great guy. Hope he wins it all.

Much love, Angie