Dad's weekend

I was for sure that the only reason I fall asleep to movies (ALL movies, EVERY TIME!) was because it was at night and I was tired.  Turns out I fall asleep to movies:

any time

 any place

any movie.

My dad and Ann came to Indy this weekend and we watched a movie at 3 in the afternoon and before I knew it I was asleep.  I can watch a TV show until 2 in the morning and be fine, but put a movie on and I am out.

Last night, we all went out to dinner at Kona Grill.  We had never been there before, but I had heard good things so I thought we'd give it a try.  We all loved it! We got a couple different appetizers and then our meals.  I love sushi and haven't had it in a while so we got a couple rolls for before the meal and then I paired another roll with my awesome chopped salad.  We were there for 2 hours and then had to rush home to catch the COLTS game.

So sad for our Colts :(.  I told Matt sometimes I think I shouldn't even watch football because I always end up getting upset when someone gets hit hard, or feeling really bad for a person who makes a stupid play (hello running into the kicker), or getting so anxious when things aren't going our way.  Oh well, I still love watching :).  

Matt and I are both off today so we plan on spending the day together just lounging around the house, heading to gym at some point, and finally taking down our Christmas decorations.  I left them up long enough for my dad to see everything this weekend.  Our house always looks so bare after the decorations come down.  It makes me want to go on a house decor shopping spree. Until then, I will let Jax's toys take up all the space on the ground :).  

DMB since the beginning

Matt and I love Dave Matthews Band.  I have so many pictures of us and our friends at all the concerts.  This one is Matt and I at the concert campgrounds in 2006.  We look so young! We had been dating for 2 years at this point.  Crazy!  

2006

We have been going to the Dave concert ever since then and this will be the first year we aren't going because they aren't touring :(.  Matt and I have been listening to DMB since we started dating.  I can remember riding around in his old beat up Honda Civic with "Ants Marching " blaring making the speakers sound like they were going to burst.  I love when we randomly decide to blare Dave in our car now and Matt goes on to do his "air drumming" or "steering wheel drumming" :).  So many of the songs have so much meaning to us.  While I'm on a roll, here are pictures of us from the DMB concerts up until last year.

2007
We went to 2 concerts this year.  This picture is from the first one in Chicago.

2007
In Noblesville

2007
Walking from our campground (Walkabout) to Verizon.  Our group of friends always walks however many miles it is to the concert from our campground.  We normally find someone to give us a ride in the back of their truck once we've walked a little.

2008
This was the first year my friend Abby joined us.  See picture below for the shenanigans that took place.

2009
Matt had to work and I didn't think he was coming, but he showed up right before the concert!

2010
No DMB for Matt since he had to work.  I went with Abby, Amy, and Sam.  We set up our tent and ended up tearing it down that night after the concert and driving to a hotel.  It had POURED rain all night and a tornado had come through Indy so we ran for shelter.

I've also been to Tinley Park in Chicago, the University of Illinois winter DMB tour, IU (Dave and Tim), and Virginia Beach to see Dave.  Lauren, Abby, and I drove to VA Beach for a little vacation and also to see Dave in 2009.  We went to VA because of Dave's opening act, Donavon Frankenreiter.  He's not that well known, but download some of his music...I LOVE him!  His music is so catchy and soothing.

2009
VA Beach Amphitheater 

Love these girls

It was a no-brainer that Matt and I had to have Dave played at our wedding .  We walked down the aisle to "Oh" by Dave and Tim (acoustic) and our first dance was "Steady As We Go".

Limited Wardrobe

I have realized that my wardrobe lately has been quite limited/embarrassing/lazy.  It consists of:

1. Scrubs...scrubs...and more scrubs

2. Workout clothes

3. Pajamas

WOW that is pathetic. Lately, on my days off I have really enjoyed not having too much to do, so I like to spend the day at the house and then fit in a workout somewhere in there. Hey, at least I make it to the gym on my off days. I will go days without putting on a pair of jeans. Speaking of that, the last time I put on jeans was last Friday when we went to Costco.  Today is my errand day, so luckily I will feel like real human who got herself dressed for a few hours. 

Poor Matt.  It is a good thing I have a loving husband who doesn't care what the heck I have on.  I was talking to a friend last night about how he sees me at my most unattractive times (when I just don't feel like drying my hair, putting on makeup, or changing out of my super comfy sweatpants).  I would never let anyone else see me quite like this, but with Matt I don't even think twice.  That way, when I put on jeans and actually do my hair, he can say, "Wow, you look great!" Thanks, I didn't have to try toooo hard :).  Gotta love him!

I think I need a good scrub shopping trip.  Since that is my main source of attire, I should really go buy some new and fun tops.  That is next on my list.

Laundry Helper

I was in the process of doing  our laundry, and in the meantime playing on the computer, when I noticed I didn't know where Jax was.  It is strange to not know where he is because he always wants to be with you, by you, watching you dry you hair, or on your lap.  If I ever don't know where he is, I just walk upstairs and there he will be...laying on our heat vent in our bathroom.  

But this day was different.  He wasn't on my lap while I was on the computer.  He wasn't laying at my feet.  He wasn't playing with a toy right next to me.  He wasn't even on the vent in our bathroom.  I completely walked past him and did not even realize he was right here...

2010 Recap...Welcome 2011!

2010 has definitely been the best year of our lives filled with so many amazing memories.  I knew it would be exciting, but I had no idea just how much we could pack into one year.  In a compact version, here is  a glimpse into what we had going on the past 12 months...

We started out 2010 by going on a vacation to Jamaica!  It was my graduation gift from Matt and we decided to go over my Winter break since we would be so busy after graduation.  We were so right!  Matt had told me my first year of nursing school that when I graduated he would take me anywhere I wanted to go.  Jamaica was paradise!

We spent the year planning our wedding :).  We had an engagement party and I found my beautiful dress in January.  Each month had big milestones for me to check off our list. It was difficult to plan the wedding while trying to finish up my senior year at Purdue.  The work really paid off because our wedding was the best day of our lives and it was more than I ever imagined it would be.

I finished up my nursing degree at Purdue with some of my fabulous friends that moved away after we graduated :(.  Abby moved to San Diego to be a Navy nurse, Amy moved to Nashville to pursue her degree for Family Nurse Practitioner, and Kylie moved to Indy (yay! close to me!) to work at Riley.  In the midst of finishing school I was looking for a job, applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs, and trying to decide what my future in nursing would hold.  Did we want to stay in Lafayette? Did I want to do NICU? Did we want to uproot and move to Indy?  I was offered two NICU positions at two different hospitals in Indy and gladly accepted my RN position on days at St. Vincent Women's in March.  Best decision I ever made! I LOVE my job.

We spent a couple months searching for a place to live in Indy since we decided to move here and not have me drive from Lafayette anymore.  We were nervous at first, but we are really loving Indy and can see it being our place to call home.

I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from Purdue in May and passed my NCLEX in June. I am a real Registered Nurse!  I'll always remember the first piece of paper I signed at work as J.Barrett, RN (later to be J. Dunn, RN which I was so excited to be signing!)




I married my best friend and became Mrs. Dunn on September 18th, the anniversary of our 6th year together!  Our wedding day was absolutely amazing.  We were surrounded by the love of our family and friends and I was able to soak up every little aspect of our special day.  I'm so lucky to call this guy my husband.

We welcomed Jax, the Boston Terrier, into our family in October.  We had always wanted a dog, and one random Sunday we decided we wanted to go get him.  We looked up a breeder on the internet and 2 hours later, we were in northern Indiana picking out our puppy!  I can't imagine not having him around.  He brings us so much happiness and laughter.

We took a belated honeymoon the beginning of November back to Jamaica.  We went to the same Sandals resort we went at the beginning of the year.  It was great get-away and a much needed relaxing vacation after the stress of the wedding and everything else we had done the past year.  We braved hurricane-turned-tropical storm Tomas and had a fantastic vacation, mon!

I am looking forward to 2011, a little because it won't be as jam-packed and a little because there are so many things to look forward to...

-I am excited to become more proficient in the NICU...I get level 3 and 4 trained (the highest level in NICU)  in February and March and then I will be fully trained to take on a baby at the highest acuity.  Scary, but so exciting to be functioning at the same level as my mentors.

-Visiting friends.  San Diego, Nashville, and Georgia are calling our names :).

-Seeing where life takes us.  Will we still be in Indy next summer when our lease is up?  Will we buy a house? Who knows! That's the fun part!

-NOT looking forward to DMB not touring in 2011...guess we will have to find another concert to hold us over until 2012 when they return :).

-Spending more time with Matt in the summers since he will be home more than last summer with his job change.

-Welcoming a friend's new baby into the world next June...congrats to the Hills!! :) 

Tonight, we are ringing in the new year together at home since I work tomorrow on New Year's Day.  Happy New Year to all of you!!

Snow Dog!

After a couple weeks of forcing Jax to get into the snow, we finally have ourselves a snow dog!  

Love him!

Christmas morning after the snow in Lafayette

Chasing snowballs

Found a stick!

Happy Wednesday

Today is my last day of 3 I have had off from work! It has been fantastic! Monday I got up early to go to the gym and get it out of the way so I could be in the house all day.  Sometimes I just love being inside the house all day, whether I am just sitting around or doing housework.  I did our 6 loads of laundry (how many loads am I going to have to do once we have kids?!) and did a little cleaning.  Matt started a new job on Monday so I spent as much time with him as I could.  I am going to have to get used to him working and not being my house husband!  That night, we went over to Tiffany and Ryan's and they made an awesome dinner for us and Ryan and Katelyn.  We have been trying to get together with all of us since we moved to Indy, so it was awesome to finally be able to!  

Tuesday I went up to Lafayette to have lunch and run errands with my mom.  Then, we met my mother-in-law, and Matt's 2 cousins at Harry's to watch the men's basketball game.  Traci and Tonya both live down south so we don't get to see them very often.  I was so happy I had the day off so I could spend some time with them! Then we all went to the Purdue Women's game.  I hadn't been to a Women's game since my mom and I had season tickets when I was in high school.  I love Purdue sports! I was planning on staying the night up there so I could hang out more with the girls, but I had to come home to be with the pup while Matt worked.

Today, we started out the morning by taking Matt to the doctor. Matt's previous job did not provide him with health insurance so I haven't been able to make him go to doctor in about 2-3 years now.  I was SO excited when I could finally add him to my insurance through work.  I really wanted him to get a full physical and for them to keep an eye on his heart since his father passed away at a young age from an aortic aneurysm.  I think being a nurse is tough sometimes because of all the "health stuff" I have learned...it'd be easier if I was oblivious to what can happen.  

Then, I went to bodypump and came home to relax at home again.  I know I should be running errands or vacuuming, but I would rather sit here with Jax on my lap and catch up on my DVR shows :).  Tonight, Lauren is coming over!  What a great Wednesday!