~ Shane & Erika ~

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T17:26:00.003-05:00

Today the world celebrates love and we celebrate the day before we got engaged 9 years ago...

Saying Goodbye & Hello

2012-01-31T22:40:00.003-05:00

January 2012 has been a LONG month for us!

Early in the month I was in an accident and my beloved 2005 Toyota Matrix, "Trixie", was totaled. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. I had just paid my car off in July and it had just turned over 100,000 miles (literally, the car had 100,005 miles on it when the accident happened), and I truly LOVED that car. Thankfully, everyone involved was uninjured and I would much rather have a totaled car than injured people.

So after an exhausting (to say the least) search today we bought a Honda Certified 2008 Element AWD. So far I am IN LOVE and it breaks my heart that Honda quit making them this year. So we'll just have to keep "E" as we are calling her for now, on the road for 800,000 miles like the owner we found on one of the Honda owner forums!

Welcome to the Family Element!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T20:07:00.000-05:00

We're cozy enjoying our last few hours before going back to work tomorrow.

More to come in the coming days!

Christmas is Coming...

2011-12-20T21:45:00.004-05:00

Christmas is only 5 days away?! How is that even possible?! In so many years this year has been a long one and in others it seems to have flown by in a flash. The past 6 months in particular with all of the house stuff, job changes, and other commitments have kept us super busy. We have been so very blessed in so may ways this year. To say I am thankful is a complete understatement.

I won't go into all of the excuses, indecision, and ultimate silliness that made the decision we would not send out Christmas cards this year. I will however, share the picture that was to be our card and a few pictures of our home all decorated for the holidays! Enjoy!

Happy Holidays, Love, S&E

The Living Room all dressed up with the "big" tree!

The "Little" tree in the family room. The "Charlie Brown" tree also lives here.

The Dining Room with a few pretty red trees!

"Kickin' Hot Chocolate" for Holiday guests!

Macabean says hi too... although, he's pretty much hibernating :)

So, We Fried a Turkey...

2011-12-05T20:35:00.003-05:00

The long and the short of it is that we bought a turkey fryer for canning (instead of potentially ruining our ceramic cooktop) and the occasional fried turkey deliciousness. We are also hosting Chapman Christmas in January where we would like to serve said fried turkey. So... we beta tested a turkey on our friends and it was a huge (and fun) success!

Shane Injecting the turkey with yummy.

The guys assessing the situation.

Shane's hands covered in turkey seasoning.

Fried Turkey Deliciousness.

The turkey was good but the time with friends was the bestest!

Christmastime...

2011-12-01T23:20:00.002-05:00

has come to the Chapman household after a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family!

Pictures to come!

We're Cozy!

2011-11-14T20:20:00.004-05:00

We have been enjoying a busy and cozy fall in our new house! We still have a handful of larger projects to go but we've been enjoying being in our house, entertaining guests, and generally NOT doing house projects for a little bit :)

A few of our favorite things to do in the fall are take a drive to Nashville, Indiana and bum around the pretty trees and visit Tuttles Orchard near Indianapolis. This year was no exception. We scheduled it so we were able to do both in the same weekend and wow was it great! Here are a few pictures (a tad late) from our annual fall date weekend.

Last weekend we also enjoyed a trip to Chicago for my birthday! Shane proved even further that he is an amazing husband by walking all over the Structural Objects and Functional Art (SoFA) show!

So, in other words, we have been enjoying a beautiful fall together! Yah!

A Few More House Pictures

2011-09-22T23:20:00.005-04:00

We are trying to get things cleaned up (notice I didn't say unpacked although, some of that is happening) for my staff retreat and our housewarming party next weekend. It feels so good to see our efforts come together the way I hoped they would in my head :)

My office (2nd bedroom) Before:
My Office After:

A Few Pictures of Our House

2011-09-20T22:11:00.006-04:00

Here are a few "before" and "after" pictures of our house. We are still working on the first phase of projects but here's a little taste.

We tend to like clean, modern lines with a hint of the traditional (but seriously, just a hint). All the photography is my own and YES, I painted ALL of the trim.... ugh!

Living Room Before (Real Estate Image)

Living Room After

Dining Room Before (Real Estate Image)
Dining Room After

Family Room Before (Real Estate Image)

Family Room After (This is just a quick shot. We are going to build a half wall where the rail is and I promise to take another picture when it's less messy)

Still Working on the House...

2011-09-19T21:47:00.002-04:00

It's funny how much work we are doing to our "move in ready" house! Essentially, we decided to paint all of the trim, all of the rooms in the house, switch out all of sockets, switches, and lights, and of course generally unpacking and organizing and that's just the first "round" of projects!! There are long term projects too and some projects that may never get finished. All are the joys of home ownership!

So, pictures are coming just not as quickly as I would like.

We hope you are all enjoying the first delicious days of fall! I feel like I have been waiting for it all year!!!

Moving... Ugh!

2011-08-22T20:00:00.002-04:00

In the three weeks or so since we closed on the house we have been busy, busy, busy buying furniture, cleaning, unpacking, and painting, painting, painting! We have painted all of the trim and are working our way across all of the walls now. So, I had hoped to have a few pictures for you and I will very, very soon however, all we have right now is lists of stuff that have to be done and lists of things that we have done. To do lists aren't fun to read so I'll spare you and promise that we'll have some before and afters very, very soon.

In the meantime, if anyone is feeling like painting or unpacking, come on over!

P.S. Macabean LOVES the new house and all the views of nature it provides!

We're Homeowners Again!

2011-07-28T22:53:00.002-04:00

We closed on our house today!!!!

I promise to post more details, pictures, and updates in the coming days. It has been a long day of cleaning and list making so we are exhausted but happy to be making the house our home!

Thanks for all the well wishes and love!

Offer Accepted!

2011-06-27T22:41:00.003-04:00

We close at the end of July!

....more to come....

Crazy Summer!

2011-06-22T21:54:00.005-04:00

Somehow, this spring and summer has been super busy!

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at the French Lick Resort and French Lick Winery (quickly becoming one of our favorite road trip destinations).

I've been cultivating our wee patio garden and learning to freezer can (for all the details click for my blog).

We've been looking for a house with (so far) no keepers :(

And we BOTH got new jobs! Both of our jobs are with our same employers and both were semi-lateral moves but to new areas which are keeping us learning and growing at work.

So, what have you been up to this summer, so far?!

Our Garden - Phase I

2011-05-08T21:10:00.003-04:00

Last year I started a little garden on the patio in our apartment. It was fairly successful for a first attempt at container gardening and a first attempt at any real gardening on my part since moving out of my mom's house!

This year, we decided to build upon last years successful plants and try a few more. So this year we started seeds and bought plants for; tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, jalapenos, sage, rosemary, thyme, catnip, and basil.

Today, before calling our moms of course (!), I planted as much as I was able before running out of soil. So I still have some to get into the ground and some rearranging to do however, it's looking to be a successful summer (or so I hope).

More pictures (and yummy things) to come soon...

It's May....

2011-05-03T10:41:00.002-04:00

.... which means we will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary in 19 days! How has it been seven years?! Amazing how time does that!

About two weeks ago we had a wonderful date night...a cozy dinner, air hockey, and a movie... it wasn't anything super fancy, but it was us, together, having fun and enjoying being together and I tend to think that's what it's all about... just being together.

Happy Earth Day!

2011-04-22T10:31:00.001-04:00

Erika is Braces Free!

2011-04-12T11:50:00.002-04:00

... pictures coming soon... until then... popcorn, carrots, and almonds are back on the grocery list!

Happy Retirement to the Original Mr. Chappy!

2011-03-20T11:14:00.004-04:00

Admittedly, this post is long overdue. I hope in a future post to share some of what we have been busy with, besides work, but if you would like a little sneak peek you can hop over to my blog at www.erikahatesrunning.blogspot.com . Until then, on to the good stuff!

At end end of February, my much adored father-in-law finally retired! I say finally, because he has been dreaming about retiring and enjoying his cars, golfing, more family time, and the occasional midday nap, as long as have known him. Just like other hard workers, he really does deserve this and we were overjoyed to be able to celebrate this milestone with him! So, Todd, Roxann, Shane, and I took him to Fogo de Chao and spoiled him with a few goodies to help him enjoy his retirement even more. It was a good night and the perfect way to celebrate a job very well done!

... and for those of you that know me, yes, I did eat meat at Fogo and LOTS of it... but no, this doesn't mean I like steak!

Happy Birthday Shane!

2011-03-09T09:14:00.002-05:00

Today is Shane's birthday! He hasn't decided where but we are planning to go to dinner tonight to celebrate!

Simply E Photography

2011-02-15T22:40:00.002-05:00

So this is a somewhat selfish double post from my other little blog, however, I wanted to share with our family and friends about my new little adventure. Shane has been amazingly supportive, as always, and I thought you might at the very least might enjoy a few extra pretty pictures from time to time :)

****

From the time I was about 4 or 5 years old and my dad first handed me his old 35mm Nikon with its heavy lens and woven neck strap I have loved playing with cameras and experimenting with photography. In particular, I enjoy playing with composition and creating abstract images from the world around me.

While I have never received any formal training, I have been honored with lots of requests to take pictures for friends and family for everything from maternity pictures, to new babies, to senior pictures, weddings, and everything in between! I have had a lot of fun doing it and over the past year my little hobby has turned into a little photography business, Simply E Photography .

So pop on over to the blog at simplyephotography.blogspot.com or visit us on Facebook and give me your feedback. If you are interested in booking me there is contact information on both of those pages.

Marengo!

2011-02-13T21:54:00.003-05:00

Like most good elementary students in Indiana during the 80s and 90s, I went to Marengo Cave as part of my 5th grade overnight field trip to learn more about Indiana History. Shane, grew up in Kansas and Illinois so while he went to a few very cool field trips including at least one to a cave. But he had never been to Marengo and I had been dying to go with him so we decided this was the weekend! We also stopped on our way home at French Lick Winery and shared a bottle of wine and pizza! It was a pretty amazing day!
... oh, and I'll be posting more pictures on Simply E Photography in the coming days.

More Images From Icepocolypse

2011-02-02T13:45:00.002-05:00

I ventured out yesterday while Shane and Bean acted as my safety team inside to take a few pictures of the icy world around us. Enjoy!

Somebody thought it was a better idea to stay snug in bed...

Ice Storm

2011-02-01T12:10:00.006-05:00

Like most of the country, here in our little corner of Indianapolis, we have gotten a wintery mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and ice. It's fairly clear as I type but they are predicting another inch or two of ice before all is said and done. We estimate we have about a half an inch right now and while it's made the city quite it's also really beautiful to look at.

Thankfully, we are home, have power, and have food and candles should we need them. We are also thankful that our loved ones seem to be safe and warm too!

So for now we are enjoying the beauty in the ice.

A Wee Adventure With Friends

2011-01-27T20:46:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a little drive up north the Elkhart and South Bend to visit my college roommate and dear friend Melissa, her boyfriend Mark, their puppies. Jenn, another dear Woodsie friend, her husband Jon, and their son Connor came over from the Merriville area and it quickly became a mini Woods Reunion with a few of my very besties!!!

We had lunch, explored the Studebaker and Historical Museums and then had a yummy dinner with lots and lots and lots of talking!! It was a great time and we really, really need to do it again soon!

Otherwise, we've just been enjoying cold nights in watching movies and I've been enjoying a brief two week break between teaching classes.

Life is good and Macabean is snuggly!

Warm & Snug

2011-01-14T19:46:00.005-05:00

We have been happy little hermits all warm and snuggly in the apartment in these evenings after work. Shane has been working on updating stuff with the computers (this is as descriptive as I can be since I am clueless as to what he is actually doing with them :) I have been teaching, knitting, and pestering the cat. It's been good stuff!

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Chapman side of the family which was wonderful with the exception of the Colts loss to the Jets :(

Of course, Macabean has been a bundle of snuggles. For as much fur as he has it seems that he gets awfully cold. He curls up with us or in the fuzzy blanket on the bed. I would make him a little kitty sweater but Shane thinks he'll shred it off.... and he's probably right :)

We hope you are enjoying these beautiful winter days with the ones you love!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:06:00.002-05:00

We wish you a very healthy, happy, and beautiful 2011!!

Merry (Belated) Christmas & A Happy New Year!

2010-12-27T17:19:00.004-05:00

We are still here, I promise! We've just had a very busy December getting ready for Christmas including time away from work which we have been fully enjoying and continue to enjoy.

We went to the G-Crew's house for the holiday weekend and enjoy three blissfully fun and relaxing days with all of them and my mom. On the way home we snuck in dinner and the end of the Colts game with the north side Chappy's so all in all, it was a very good Christmas!

This week we are laying low, relaxing, and hopefully getting just a few things done around the apartment. I will post a few more Christmas type pictures in the coming days but for now just a few pictures from our busy December.

We visited Ikea in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the first trip for us both and we are in love!

Snow, beautiful fly!
Our beautiful Christmas tree!
Macabean all snuggled into the flannel sheets. He's so warm and cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T11:33:00.002-05:00

We wish you a very happy, warm, safe, and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday!

Enjoying Fall

2010-11-17T22:27:00.006-05:00

Despite my busy travel schedule for work the past month, Shane and I have found the time to squeeze in a few sweet dates together!

In late October we made our annual pilgrimage to Tuttles Orchards just east of Indianapolis. We picked apples and pumpkins and generally enjoyed the beautiful fall weather!

This past weekend in celebration of my birthday (a little late since I was in Denver on my actual birthday) we enjoyed yummy dinner at the Melting Pot and caught a late night movie. Unfortunately, Shane got really sick on the way home and is just now feeling better.

Finally, a beautiful picture of the mountains from my Denver trip or a potential future date location!

Falling Into Fall

2010-10-17T20:43:00.004-04:00

We have had a wonderfully fun and busy autumn thus far. We have celebrated weddings, birthdays, and visits with wonderful friends! All good stuff but it hasn't left me too much time to post.
Things are starting to slow down for Shane at work as summer has been turning into fall. I have actually been getting a little more busy at work. It's funny how that works out isn't it?! Macabean of course has been getting fluffier and fluffier which of course we love!

So without further ado, a few fun pictures of our adventures with a promise of more updates to come.
.... and a very sleepy Bean....

Oktoberfest & Waiting on Autumn

2010-09-19T20:29:00.004-04:00

Things are slowing down some for Shane at work and things are getting busy for me but all in all we are doing pretty well and enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures.

Last weekend we enjoyed Oktoberfest at German Park with a few friends. The weather was perfect, the food was wonderful, and Macabean didn't seem to miss us much.

This weekend I photographed a wedding and Shane and Macabean enjoyed a bachelors day complete with movies, computer games, steak, and of course pestering each other.

Somehow we have managed to have plans every weekend in September which has been pretty fun so far and promises to end with a bang next week with a wedding for a work colleauge of Shane's.

I can not tell you how happy I am that fall is here! The weather is getting cooler, apple cider slushies are right around the corner, and Macabean is getting slightly fluffier to prepare himself for the cold winter ahead (which is funny because we all know he's a very spoiled inside kitty who sleeps under a fuzzy blanket)!

Welcome Fall!

2010-09-07T18:54:00.004-04:00

Life is calming down and settling in for us. Shane is finishing up his "busy season" at work. I am busy at work but in a good way that gets me out of the office some to enjoy the soon to be changing leaves. Macabean is well, being a fluffy adorable cat!

This past Labor Day weekend we took a long overdue and much needed overnight to French Lick Springs Resort. We had a wonderful day visiting the French Lick Winery and exploring West Baden and French Lick resorts. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy each other and the beautiful surroundings.
Now we're looking forward to a September filled with celebrating birthdays, weddings, and hopefully welcoming in some cooler weather!

How did you all enjoy the holiday weekend?!

Hi.

2010-08-27T22:47:00.003-04:00

I promise that we are still here, doing well, and counting the days till the wonder and beauty of fall with it's overcast days, a snuggly fluffy Macabean growing his winter coat, and of course pumpkins!

In the meantime, we have both been working a lot and enjoying birthday parties for the little ones of dear friends.

I will get some pictures posted soon but until then, stay cool!

Re-Design and What We've Been Up To...

2010-07-26T19:41:00.002-04:00

Thanks to "Best Little Blog on the Block" taking away their background link and Blogger coming up with some rad new templates, our little blog got a new look. I hope you enjoy! We might play with it some more but this will work nicely for now :)

What have we been up to you ask? A whole lot of work, lazy weekends, and vacation planning. Nothing to exciting to report other than the fact that we are torn between three different locations for our vacation and each of them are faboo. Hopefully, we'll decide soon?!

More to come soon...

Loss...

2010-07-06T22:42:00.005-04:00

This summer has been one of loss for us, our family, and friends... In May, my brother in law's father passed. In June, our friend Eric, Sarah's husband, lost his father. Then this past weekend my dear Grandma R. passed away. There are no words to truly describe the pain that comes from loss so I won't even attempt it.

My Grandma was an incredible woman with beautiful blue eyes, warm hugs, the most beautiful handwriting, and again, my words are failing me.. she was just amazing!

In the last several months I keep remembering... "Though I sleep, my heart still watches"...

Beautiful Storms...

2010-06-15T20:02:00.003-04:00

Throughout the Midwest we have been getting lots of summer pop up storms. Despite Macabean's strong distaste for storms of all kinds, Shane and I love them! So we have been enjoying all of the beautiful thunderstorms rolling in and cleansing the earth. So instead of babbling and not doing justice to how peaceful and beautiful these storms can be, I will just share some pictures. Now if only we didn't have those silly power lines through my pretty pictures :)

Happy Anniversary to Us & Welcome to Summer

2010-05-31T15:23:00.006-04:00

We have both been silly busy with work lately and so the two long weekends for our anniversary and Memorial Day have provided some much needed downtime. We celebrated a very low key anniversary visiting the Tara Donovan exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and then a relaxed dinner at Houlahan's. We are planning to do our traditional road trip but are holding off a little this year.

This weekend we spent our fair share of time doing nothing but we also relaxed with some dear friends in Bloomington too. So all in all, just what we needed. Now if only we were independently wealthy and could do this all the time! :) We hope you enjoy a little glimpse of us welcoming summer...

My little container garden on our porch. Shane and Bean provide backup watering duties when I'm on work trips. We are growing sage, rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro, catnip (of course!), nasthursums, strawberries, pumpkins, and tomatoes.

Our little Memorial Day weekend picnic to Oliver Winery.

And of course, your weekly dose of adorable. Macabean was being a paricularly good model for my photography bug on this day. I think it might be one of my favorites of him.

6 years ago.....

2010-05-22T09:06:00.003-04:00

today....
Love,

S&E

Date Night!

2010-05-09T20:34:00.005-04:00

Shane and I love having the occasional "date night". Usually, it's dinner at more expensive restaurant, a trip to the art museum, or the classic dinner and a movie. However, occasionally, we kick it up a notch and do things like go to concerts or take a day trip.

This past Friday we went to see Pearl Jam!!! Despite a delay for "some weather" we had a beautiful night in the lawn listening to one of the few bands that we actually love and agree on! There were a few annoying underage Nirvana haters (another story, for another day) in front of us but it was an amazing show and we had a great time together.
The clouds and weather on Shane's phone. We actually had to vacate the lawn and move to the courtyard area until after the storms blew over. Thankfully, with the aide of some super cute ponchos we were able to stay mostly dry and enjoy the show!

And, because he is too adorable not to share... Macabean! He has been a sheddy beasty as of late so we have been brushing nearly whole other cat's worth of fur off of him daily. It's a good thing he's so cute!

Busy Bees...

2010-05-02T21:27:00.003-04:00

We have been busy worker bees lately but rest assured we are still here! I actually have some pictures of our wee but growing garden to share as soon as I get home. I'm missing Shane from Washington DC for a work trip this week so pictures will be coming soon. We hope you are all enjoying the spring weather!

Our Life With Macabean

2010-04-11T14:36:00.003-04:00

Shane and I have been pretty busy with work and therefore have been enjoying our hobbies in our downtime. Shane has been enjoying a few new computer games and I've been working on knitting projects and trying to learn to cook a few more things (thanks again, Jamie Oliver!). So we aren't too exciting to post about however, Macabean on the other hand is just too fun and adorable not to share! So this post is devoted to our beautiful Bean cat.

A few weeks ago we gave Macabean a bath. He DID NOT enjoy it but we always find it fascinating to watch him preen himself after the bath.

He is of course a cat, and loves to play. Sometimes we just happen to have a camera handy.. how cute is he all peeking under the tablecloth?!

And of course he loves to snuggle. We like to think he likes to snuggle us but really he likes to snuggle the "fuzzy" blankets. We of course are just happy to have a warm Bean cat to snuggle with us!

We are so very thankful to have him in our lives!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T22:27:00.002-04:00

While we are a little late in the day we still hope everyone had a peaceful, rejuvenating, and beautiful Easter Sunday! We had a rather lazy, although much needed day together.

Just a Few Pictures...

2010-03-28T21:22:00.007-04:00

I finally got around to uploading our adventures over the past few weeks.
First, a few from our trip to visit the G-Crew. One of our traditions on these visits has become Barbie Uno (same as regular uno except Barbie themed. Shane always seems to win and so the girls made him a Barbie Uno Champion Crown!!!! The Crown is complete with glitter and flowers! I promised him I wouldn't post pics of him actually wearing the crown but I couldn't help sharing some of it :) Of course, we were entertained by their three cats including the always silly, Oscar.

This weekend we celebrated Todd, Shane's brother, turning the big 30. We all welcomed him to the club complete with pinata and cake. Oddly, I have no good pictures of Todd?! I guess I'll have to snag a few from Roxann.

Finally, tonight I busted out the Jamie Oliver "Food Revolution" cookbook and successfully attempted the "Perfect Roast Chicken" and the Roast Vegitables. Both were easy and super yummy! I am considering making the "Pefect Roast Lamb" for Easter, we'll see... In the meantime, a picture of my accomplishment!

I promise to try and do a little better about updates and pictures. I can't believe how behind I was!

With Spring Comes Change....

2010-03-21T14:39:00.002-04:00

It seems that there are different times throughout the year and throughout life really, that one experiences change. Today, we are waiting to hear about how our lawmakers will vote to change or not change healthcare, a number of friends have welcomed new little ones, are getting ready to, or discovered they are expecting, and the air is starting to change and become less cold and instead has a little warm behind it.

Here in Chappy land we are experiacing some change too. I am within days of finishing my certification process and entering my mentorship phase to teach at the University of Phoenix Online on a part time basis, this week I finally let Shane upgrade my old laptop to Windows 7, Shane is starting to get his process of making changes to "the build" over the summer at work, and Macabean is starting to shed some of his winter fluff. While these are all minor and mostly seasonal changes they still bring hope and promise as we move forward through the year.

So all this is to say, Happy Spring! I am off the Baltimore (again) in a few hours but I hope to get some pictures up towards the end of the week. Happy Spring, Happy Spring!

Our Barrel

2010-03-15T20:29:00.003-04:00

I know we have been missing in action the past few weeks however, I have been busy learning how to become a part-time instructor with the University of Phoenix Online. In the coming weeks I should be working on my mentorship and hopefully soon after I'll officially be a faculty member!

In the meantime, last week we celebrated Shane's birthday and this past weekend visited the G-Crew in Quincy! So we've been enjoying fun stuff too!!!

A few weeks ago we received our notification from Makers Mark that our barrel has been filled and is now resting in the stackhouse! Last year during our anniversary trip we became Makers Mark Ambassadors and our names were added to a barrel. Our letter and the picture of our barrel are a component of being an ambassador. Once our barrel has been aged appropriately we'll receive notice that it's time to come pick up our finished bottles of Makers Mark (about 10 - 12 years). A little cheesy... perhaps. However, it's a lot of fun too watching our bourbon age!!

Enjoying the Olympics

2010-02-16T18:10:00.004-05:00

I am a huge fan of the Olympics and was lucky enough to attend the games in Atlanta in '96 and Salt Lake City in '02. Shane is not a huge sports fan of any kind but every two years he indulges my passion for two and a half weeks. This years Winter Games are no different. Last Friday, the night of the opening ceremonies, he visited with with a friend so my mom and I could enjoy the ceremonies (or escape for some man time, you be the judge) and since then has watched all the events with me from men's luge to pairs figure skating. I am so very thankful that even though it isn't really his thing he still helps me enjoy The Games.~A few treats from our "girls night" watching the opening ceremonies.

Macabean has also been a part of the action by sleeping on Shane and then waking up, walking across the room and jumping up on my lap to sleep on me. If cat napping were an Olympic sport, I am positive he would be our little gold medal winner!

We hope you are staying warm and enjoying The Games (or supporting those that do) :)

7 Years Ago Today...

2010-02-15T17:49:00.002-05:00

Shane asked me to marry him and I said, yes!

So in celebration we ordered a pizza, just like we did that night (pre proposal of course), and are going to enjoy a little Olympics watching. Pretty sweet stuff!!

Happy Saint Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T10:17:00.006-05:00

... a day to celebrate love in all its forms!

We'll be enjoying a lazy Sunday together with the Bean cat. We wish you a warm day with the ones that you love!

Playing Catch Up

2010-02-09T12:51:00.006-05:00

I hate when I get "off" on our blog posts. As a follower of a few blogs I always feel like Christmas day when I click on one of those and I find that there is a new post! So I feel badly when I don't get a chance to update our little blog. Not that we are super exciting but sometimes it's just nice to have something new and fun to read, right?!

There are a few fun things to share in Shane & Erika land...

1.) E-mealz.com - If you know Shane, you know he's a money saver my nature. A few weeks ago while on a message board he discovered E-mealz.com . It's a service that you pay $5 a month for that provides you with dinner menus and a grocery list for the week and purport that you will pay around $40 a week or less. They have lots of plans for different sized families, dietary needs, stores, etc. We chose the "2 person, any store" option and have been using it for two weeks. Last week was hit or miss because I was away on a work trip but so far we are loving it!! Yummy food that is affordable and a total no brainer after work.2.) So, in case you missed it, the Colts lost the Super Bowl. We started off the playoffs celebrating with friends and finished them with friends which is what it's really all about! Shane is not a huge football fan and I never really got into it until we moved to Indy. Since then I've learned more about the game and enjoy watching the Colts and watching games with friends....(can you tell Shane is thrilled to watch the game?) 3.) In other sporting news, the Winter Olympics start on Friday!!!! Shane is celebrating by going to a friend's house for "man night" and I am having my mom over for dinner and opening ceremony goodness! 4.) Snow, snow, snow! We had about 5.5 inches on Friday and another 3 this morning with another 3-4 inches coming tonight and it's SOO pretty!5.) Macabean remains precious! Just look at his fluffy-ness!
So I think this catches us all up... for the moment :)

Go Colts!

2010-01-25T19:01:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we hosted our dear friends Colleen and Sarah so that we ladies could attend a baby shower for our fellow Woodsie friend, Gail. After the shower we also hosted an impromptu football watching party and watched the Colts make it into the AFC Championship game. This past week however, I was crazy sick with a stomach bug so our little corner of the world was pretty un-exciting. Then this past weekend I started to feel better and we celebrated Chapman Family Christmas with Shane's parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Our little "tradition" of Christmas in January was warm, fun, and relaxing. I need to go through my camera and see what kind of fun pictures I can post in the coming days...

Sunday afternoon we came home and relaxed while watching the Colts win the AFC Championship and move on to the Super Bowl! While we aren't huge football fans, I have been watching the Colts my whole life and Shane is sweet enough to indulge me and game while I watch :) Now we are trying to figure out what how we'll be watching the Super Bowl!!!So this week I feel like I am catching up from being sick in between two fun weekends! Shane is helping me catch up with missed TV and Macabean is taking turns snuggling us both since he was pretty much my cat last week.. he he...

So, please, stay tuned for more to come...

Prayers for the People of Haiti...

2010-01-13T23:08:00.002-05:00

Prayers for the People of Haiti...

When I was a little girl my dad used to go to Haiti on buissness trips and photographer that he is brought back beautiful pictures of the people and the country and even though I have never set foot on the island, I feel like I have been there many times through his photographs so now... I see the horrific pictures of those same beautiful people and there are no words to describe the mix of emotions.
~~ Erika

The following is a link to the American Red Cross Donation page, we encourage you to donate, even a dollar or two. It may make all the difference...
American Red Cross Donation Page

Outtakes....

2010-01-10T20:15:00.004-05:00

Every year (therefore, it's no longer a surprise), Shane & I, his brother Todd and his wife Roxann make a calender for Mom Chapman for Chapman Christmas. (Chapman Christmas being our Christmas as a family in January). It's always fun to enjoy dinner together and then whip out the Nikon for a few pictures. This week was our annual photo shoot and of course we had a great time being goofy and freaking out Todd and Roxann's cats, Cloe and Lily. While the final project each year becomes somewhat of a family secret... er, joke... I don't want to give away too much but a quick outtake is always fun, right?

In other exciting news this week I finally, after many, many attempts made a sucessful and yummy batch of whole wheat Guinness beer bread. While the picture is terrible the actual bread was crazy good! I just had to take a picture though and of course the camera battery was dying so this is what we got but yeah, yummy bread!

And of course, your weekly dose of adorable... Bean taking a quick bath.

Back to Reality...

2010-01-03T19:54:00.004-05:00

We have truly enjoyed the holiday season. Shane has been off for the past two weeks, I worked a few days in the middle there but, have mostly been off and we saw a lot of our family and friends. However, starting tomorrow morning it's back to reality. Shane will be at his Bloomington office, I will be back at work after a quick dental appointment, and it will be back to the grind. While I will miss the time off and the time with those we love, but I think it's time to get back to a more normal routine. However, before we do... a few pictures from our holiday adventures.

Happy New Year's Eve!!

2009-12-31T13:03:00.002-05:00

Ahh... what a year 2009 has been. There was a lot of great stuff, our 5th wedding anniversary, I turned 30, finishing my MPH and earning my CPH and CHES certifications, and as a result of finishing school actually had some time with my boys. (Shane I think enjoys it more than Macabean but cats are pretty independant by nature so I don't take it too personally). There was however, a lot of not so great stuff about 2009, particularly to those that we love and care deeply about. So, while it has been lovely, we are looking forward to 2010, a new year, a new decade, a clean slate yet to be determined.

We hope you have a safe and happpy New Year's Celebration and a wonderful 2010!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-25T15:04:00.003-05:00

We wish everyone a very merry, warm, and peaceful Christmas!!

Greetings from Franklin, NE

2009-12-24T12:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we made the 8 hour trip from Quincy, IL (visiting the G-crew) to Franklin, NE to spend Christmas with Shane's family here. The trip was pretty uneventful, just foggy and a little rainy but not near the blizzard that was predcited.

Again, I promise pictures are coming....

Merry Christmas Eve!

Greetnigs from Quincy, IL...

2009-12-20T22:35:00.003-05:00

Shane and I left after work on Friday and travelled here to Quincy, IL to spend a few days with Denise, David, the kiddos, and Mom before driving the rest of the way to Franklin, NE to spend Christmas with Shane's family.

So far, we have had a great trip filled with Christmas lights, Denise's famous sugar cookies, video games, yarn time (Mom and I knit, Denise crochet's), pestering their cats, opening gifts, and watching the snow float around before coating the ground.

Pictures to come....

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

2009-12-06T21:51:00.004-05:00

Since the Thanksgiving holiday, Shane has been on vacation, I've been travelling for work (with two more trips coming up this week), and Macabean has been, well, sleeping :)

We've also started getting into the Christmas spirit around the apartment. Most of our Christmas shopping has been done, wrapped, and snuggled under the tree, our tree and wreaths are up, and the Christmas cards are almost in the mail! And... a little eggnog has been enjoyed!
We hope you are all having a warm, safe, and peaceful holiday season....

Macabean not impressed that we wanted him to be included in the Christmas picture :)

Happy Thanksgiving & A Very Merry Black Friday

2009-11-26T22:22:00.002-05:00

We are enjoying the holiday weekend with Shane's family (Mom & Dad Chapman, Todd & Roxann)and seeing some friends in the area too. So far it's been lovely just lounging about, eating yummy food, and being thankful for all that we have!

We ladies have a battle plan and are partaking in Black Friday Madness!

Till later.... much love!

2,000 Days...

2009-11-15T22:45:00.002-05:00

As of November 12, we have been married for 2,000 days.

Before you think we've lost it, I am active on a website for newlyweds and old married couples and when I log in it tells me how many days since our wedding.

We used the occasion as an excuse for dinner at Outback :)

Happy Birthday to Erika!

2009-11-08T22:46:00.006-05:00

I turned 30 on November 5th. Thanks to Shane and my amazing friends and family, I had the best 30th birthday that a girl could ask for!!!

Following a work trip to Baltimore early in the week, Shane and I travelled north to Chicago to meet up with friends for the Gavin Rossdale concert benifiting the Lukemia&Lymphoma Foundation at the House of Blues. I've been a fan since, well, I've been a fan for a long time... and it was a truly great show. The venue is so intimate and relaxed. It was wonderful! Then we wandered around downtown Chicago for a bit before going back to the hotel for a little sleep.

Friday, was Colleen's birthday and so we went to the Structural Objects and Functional Art or SOFA show at Navy Pier. It was a good show with good friends!

Then Saturday, we celebrated with a yummy dinner at Bucca di Beppo and an after party complete with Rock Band!!!

I'm so blessed!!!

Happy November!

2009-11-01T22:23:00.002-05:00

While October was a wonderful month, November is my favorite!!! Not only is it my birthday month but it's Thanksgiving!, Black Friday!, and even more pumpkin goodness!!!

This week I'll be in Baltimore for work for a few days then we are meeting friends in Chicago to celebrate my birthday and that of our friend Colleen before coming back to Indy for more celebrating.

So, until then, enjoy the leftover Halloween candy and have a great week! Happy November!

Another Beautiful Orchard

2009-10-25T21:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, we visited another Indianapolis area orchard, Tuttle's. It was entirely too cold for this time of year or for pumpkin and apple picking but we had a really good time and found some beautiful pumpkins and tasty apples!

This week I finished my first sweater (pictures to come) and Shane had a good little visit with our friend Greg while in Btown overnight for work. So far, we are healthy and have avoided the dreaded H1N1 but bought some extra orange juice and pulled out the hand sanitizer to help in our efforts to stay healthy.

On to a few pictures from our outing.

.... and Macabean has been sleeping :)

A Little Behind...

2009-10-19T18:06:00.004-04:00

So I'm a little behind in posting. We've been enjoying all things fall!

Two weekends ago my Mom and I participated in the Terre Haute "Celebrate Fiber" fiber fair (knitting, spinning, crochet, yarn, wool, etc for all the non-fiber folks out there). We enjoyed a nice relaxing day together and Shane and Macabean also enjoyed the day by catching up on video games and movies. Well, maybe just Shane, Bean was too busy catching up on sleep. Oh, the life of a cat!?!

This coming weekend I'm hoping we can make it to another orchard to pick up pumpkins!!! Despite the pumpkin candles, red tablecloth, and cooler air in our apartment it feels a little naked around here without a pumpkin or two :)

Here are a few pictures from mom and my fiber adventures.

Ahh... Fall...

2009-10-04T19:52:00.005-04:00

So in case you hadn't noticed fall is our favorite time of the year! The weather gets cooler, the air is crisp, and everything is a little calmer. Good stuff!

This weekend we decided to soak a little of it up and visit (for the first time) our wee little local orchard (local as in just down the road from our apartment), Adrian Orchard, to check it out and grab some apples for a tart. It's a cute little orchard with apple and pear trees and a pumpkin patch and a little store with wonderful smelling things and little jars filled with jams and jellies and chow chow. All very fall :) While we weren't able to stay long we grabbed some apples and checked out the store and pumpkin patch and decided to add it to our list of fun places to visit. I'm sure we'll make it back again soon and there are a few other orchards around Indy that would be nice to visit in the coming weeks. Ahh... fall...

Homecoming

2009-10-01T18:07:00.010-04:00

Shane, Macabean, and I are all excited that fall is here in our little corner of the world! The air is crisp, the skies are overcast, and the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air!

This past weekend we visited The Woods for my Homecoming and met up with our friends Jenn and Jon and their son, Connor along with lots of Woodsies and friends of The Woods. We watched the soccer team win 7-0, enjoyed some brats and brew, and wandered around campus. While the leaves weren't changing yet the air was cool and everything had that warm cozy Woods feel! I don't think the guys enjoyed it quite as much as Jenn and I did but they were great sports!
Shane and I at the shrine where we were married. (Jenn and Jon were also married here). The soccer team about to make a goal. Jenn, Jon, and Shane enjoying the soccer game.
Jenn and Connor enjoying a little lunch.
Jenn and I behind Le Fer aka our home for 4 years.

Alpacas!!!!!!

I've been working on knitting my first sweater. Shane has been working on beating a few new games, and Bean has been well... fluffy :) Thankfully, things seem to be slowing down and we're able to enjoy the change in weather.

Oh, and my amazing sister sent me this picture of my oldest niece Mikayla and I at the Villa Katherine from our trip to Quincy. Go ahead, google the Villa Katherine... you know you want to..basically, a middle eastern villa on the banks of the Mississippi complete with a great story.

A Visit with the G-Crew

2009-09-22T19:41:00.003-04:00

Things have been pretty relaxed here in Indy. Shane and I have been working, I have been enjoying NOT being in school, and Macabean is happily fluffing up for fall.

This past weekend we along with my mom, travelled to Quincy, IL to visit my sister Denise and her beautiful family. It was so good to see them after their year + of living in Canada for my brother in laws work. We had such a great time relaxing, giggling, and enjoying each others company that I didn't take any pictures!!! I know, this is getting nuts and I promise to be better about whipping out the camera. But hey, sometimes its better to live life away from a lens!I also want to give a great big "Get Well" hug to our dear friend Colleen who had surgery this week. She is doing well so far and we hope she is back to 100% soon.

Not So Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-09T17:39:00.002-04:00

Shane is home. We had a lovely Labor Day holiday weekend complete with equal parts lazy and fun with friends. We went to Indianapolis's Oktoberfest and a cookout and of course Shane got some video game playing in and I worked on a seamlessly unending knitting project. All in all a great weekend.

Since I somehow managed to miss putting the memory card in the camera I am actually waiting on pictures from friends from our weekend fun. However, as per usual, Macabean serves as some great visual interest :) This particular night, Sunday I believe, Bean decided that the fuzzy blanket that I had pushed to the side of the love seat made a comfy bed and I decided it would be a cute picture. Enjoy!

We're Here...

2009-09-01T18:13:00.004-04:00

...well sort of. I am! Macabean is! Shane however, is enjoying a week long conference for work in San Francisco. So we miss him but it sounds like he is learning a lot so it's worth it. He'll be home Friday night and we have plans for a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend! So look for a more substantial post later in the week. In the meantime, I'll share the view from Shane's hotel room in San Francisco... so pretty! Oh, and apparently, I'm a tropical storm and they even spelled it correctly!!! E-r-i-k-a

Braces Day...

2009-08-11T20:05:00.003-04:00

Let me first say, that Shane is hands down the best husband ever. He sat in the waiting room at the orthodontists office for 2.5/3 hours with kids, parents, and patients while I got my braces put on. I just needed someone for moral support and thankfully, Shane was able!!!

The whole thing is documented on my health and fitness blog (erikahatesrunning.blogspot.com) so I won't bore everyone with it here.

So far I am feeling pretty good with ibuprofen and yummy soft foods. However, I am dreading tomorrow as I know it will be all kinds of sore.

That's all for now folks..

Quickie..

2009-08-09T20:53:00.002-04:00

Nothing too exciting here. We're both busy with work, tired of summer and ready for fall, and Macabean is due for a veterinary appointment (must get an appointment!)... so I thought I'd spruce things up with a little blog makeover. Like?

Last weekend we had a wonderful visit when Shane's parents brought his grandparents and cousin who were visiting from Nebraska to Indianapolis for a visit and to see Todd and Roxann's new house! It was a good visit and fun to see Todd and Roxann's new house in it's "before" stage.

My braces go on Tuesday. Shane is being the amazing husband that he is, and going with me for moral support. I have so many mixed emotions about the whole thing. I'm really excited to start the process and hopefully improve my TMJ issues. On the other hand, I am not looking forward to being uncomfortable (trying not to use the "pain" word) and of course my age wearing braces... again...So, more to come this week.

I think we might be boring?

2009-07-26T20:35:00.002-04:00

Not that, that's a bad thing really but it doesn't make for fun reading :)

Shane is of course getting busy-er by the day at work. Summer is when they update all the machines, get the campus ready for fall, and keep it going through summer conferences and such. He is however, going to a conference the last week of August/first of Sept. to learn more about "some sort of virtulization thing" (or so I call it) in San Francisco. I have been informed this is a "boys only" work trip and since I am hording money and vacation time right now I'm going to pass on the amazing wine tours and the beautiful redwoods... ahh... someday, right?

I am finishing up my interim progress report at work. This means nothing to most of our readers but for those with federal grants you know I'm a busy bee. I have also learned a few new knitting techniques, and am trying to fit in my guitar practice too... so good stuff.

Macabean is of course being a happy kitty lounging about and enjoying us coming home and being good pillows for him.

This past weekend we were able to get a nice visit in with my sister and her family, my mom, and a few of our Bloomington friends all in one day! Denise, David, and the kiddos happen to be there for a wedding and we were there to celebrate our godson's 4th birthday. Mom came down and it made for a very cool day.. long but good to see everyone.

And guess who hasn't been taking pictures?! Yep, I should be punished in some way. :(

Of Summer...

2009-07-12T17:26:00.006-04:00

Not a lot to report here.. we're just working, trying to squeeze in some relaxation, and enjoying a grad school free existence. I think it's really starting to sink in that I'm done and I don't have to "hurry up and relax so I can work again". For those of you who have been through the grad school while working full time experience, you know what I mean...

I found out this week I will likely need my second round of braces. My bite is lopsided for lack of a better explanation and it's causing some wear on the teeth on that side. An added bonus s that it might help my TMJ! Sooo... look out for a newly minted metal mouth in the near future.

We were able to see a bit of our parents this week. My mom attended a training I gave in Terre Haute on Thursday and we had brunch today when Shane's parent's came to pick up their computer that Shane had been working on this week. Family is always good to see!

The Chapman Parents 70 GTO Judge Ram Air III as seen by my camera...

The rain on my windshield on our weekly grocery trip. Beautiful and peaceful, summer rain....

Lazy Summer

2009-07-05T21:41:00.005-04:00

Usually we travel to Saint Louis to see family and friends over the 4th of July holiday each year. This year we decided to stay home for a few different reasons but mostly because we have both been so busy with work and just needed a weekend at home. Friday we did a deep clean of our apartment, reorganized some things, and basically got ourselves set to stay here for another yearish. Oh yeah, we decided to stay in the apartment for another year to pay off a few bills and save up money and wait things out to let the housing market stabilize a little. Financially, this is a really good decision that we both know to be the right one but it's not fun. We capped the day off with dinner at Mug n' Buns and a trip to the drive in theatre to see "Public Enemies" and "The Hangover" (again) with Todd and Roxann. Saturday, we woke up late and after our normal Saturday routine we had dinner and played some wii with our friends The Bradley's. Today, was a lot of laziness :) So a good weekend all in all!

On a side note, my graduation present to myself is a guitar and guitar lessons!! This week my friend and teacher Jill helped me choose a guitar and lessons start on Monday!! I am pretty excited and my new guitar worked as an outstanding subject for my weekly camera play time. Macabean isn't sure what to think. Every time I strum it he runs but he sure thinks it smells nice!

Macabean wishes you a very happy and a peacefully lazy summer!

Pretty "Cool" Pictures...

2009-06-28T20:11:00.005-04:00

We had a pretty chill week (or tried too) staying inside and avoiding the oppressive heat and humidity outside! Shane and I are just NOT summer people in the least so when it hits the 90s and the humidity is 60 - 80% we pretty much stay inside! Our rubber tree... it looks soo calm and cool here...

I used the oppurtunity to play with my camera and Shane beat a mod (I think) on Fallout 3. Since screen shots aren't really telling of all the work that Shane put into his game I'll share a few pictures... I should also explain before we get to the pictures that last week while I was travelling I caught my engagement ring on a bathroom stall and took a knick out of a prong. To be on the safe side I took my rings in and had them inspected and polished. So while I was ring-less for a few days they are now all shiny, pretty, and made for a lot of cool pictures. Shane has never gotten his wedding ring polished and as our rings are platinum they develop a really nice patina as they are warn. Soo... I tried to capture that contrast.

Okay... on to the good stuff!
Macabean always makes for a nice model..

What a week...

2009-06-21T22:03:00.005-04:00

..and I mean that in the best possible way! I was in Clearwater Beach, Florida for the Annual University of South Florida Social Marketing Academy and Conference. I have been dying to go to this conference since I started grad school so I had a great week doing super nerdy public things with a side of beach in the evenings...

Shane was working on updating the home theatre computer and going through his parts...

Macabean was hiding from the Indiana storms...So to top off a week apart we spent a wonderful day together at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Modern European Design Since 1985 exhibit.

Macabean enjoyed a day without a storm....

Random Fun Stuff

2009-06-10T20:01:00.007-04:00

It's been really lovely to be school - free! Shane is enjoying the occasional (note, the word "occasional") and Macabean is getting snuggled, er, pestered more than he would like. It's a beautiful thing to just come home and relax!
At the end of May I received my diploma and a few days later received notice that I had passed the Certified Health Education Specialist or CHES exam that I had taken in April. So, officially, I'm an MPH, CHES :) I have one last optional exam to take in August, the Certified in Public Health or CPH and I should get those results in October.
Oh yeah, and red?! I decided to try a little something different and fun. My stylist and I have been plotting it for a while and today I finally had the guts to do it. It's soo much fun!!!

Last week Shane finally found a "good enough" deal on a bigger TV. So now we are the proud owners of a 46 incher (LCD, 1080p for those of you that care). It's been great to watch the Stanley Cup on!

Please ignore the mess. We were still in the set up phase at this point but the camera was handy, soo....

Macabean has been adorable as per usual nothing new in that department.

A Little Late...

2009-06-05T20:26:00.012-04:00

I know I promised pictures a week ago however, its been a busy week! We had a great time at the concert. Shane and I both love thunderstorms and we were treated with a double show when a massive thunderstorm rolled through the area. Ahh... a GREAT night!!!!
On a semi related note... we have had several thunderstorms lately which again, makes Shane and I happy campers but Macabean really doesn't like them at all. So Shane, thought it might be a good idea to help in overcome his fears by taking him outside as one of the storms moved in. At first he was sniffing around and interested in that pre-thunderstorm air then the storm started to pick up and he buried his head in Shane's arm and it was all over. I had to take pictures because it was just too cute! He does this same little hiding maneuver at the Vet's office too :)

NIN Day!

2009-05-30T10:30:00.003-04:00

Shane and I are HUGE nine inch nails fans! It all started way back when we first started hanging out as friends and I was introduced to Mr. Reznor via Shane and have been in love with them both ever since! If you listened closely at our wedding we even threw a few nails songs into the playlist. Soo, whenever they get close enough we go! Okay... so we've missed them a few times but big fans nonetheless. In fact, I had joked (although, I had a budget and itinerary laid out), that we should follow them around to a few cities on this tour since it's going to be the last one for a while. According to Trent they are "taking an extended hiatus". Anyway, we scratched that idea and are just going to this one, tonight. Pictures will be posted soon I am sure.....

5 years....

2009-05-25T16:31:00.011-04:00

This past Friday, May 22, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It's amazing how fast time flies by. In celebration of our anniversary we took a little road trip to Louisville, Kentucky. A driving and driving and driving some more....

Friday, we hit the Bourbon Trail and visited Makers Mark, Heaven Hill, and Jim Beam Distilleries before having a yummy dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market. At Makers Mark we dipped our own bottle and joined the Ambassador Program which entitles us to our names on a barrel and the opportunity to dip our bottles from that barrel when they are ready.. about 6 -9 years. I sense another trip coming..?! We just did a quick stop at Heaven Hill and Jim Beam was closed due to a staff outing so our time on the Bourbon Trail was a bit shorter than we expected but we had a great time seeing the state and enjoying time together.
Saturday, we slept in before heading to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for a super yummy lunch and then it was off to Churchill Downs to watch the races and enjoy the Museum. I enjoyed a mint julep (with some help from Shane of course!) and we placed a bet on one of the races. A first for us both. It was a lot of fun to experience the history of Churchill Downs for ourselves and get up close and personal to the horses and the people that make the place tick!

By Sunday we were home and Shane had somehow managed to do something to his foot/big toe so we rescheduled our planned trip to the Indianapolis Art Museum but still managed to squeeze in catching "Terminator Salvation". So all in all, a good long weekend enjoying time together and celebrating this milestone in our life together. This coming weekend we're going to try and make out visit to the art museum and then the Nine Inch Nails show with friends.

At the end of the day. We are just two happy kids in love.

Introducing Erika L. Chapman, MPH

2009-05-11T17:44:00.005-04:00

After 3 long years, lots of hard work, countless papers written and pages read, and loads of support from my family and friends (and Shane of course!)I finally finished my Masters of Public Health and celebrated graduation this past Saturday!

All decked out in my academic garb. Why oh why must public health be salmon pink?!

Shane and I following the School of Medicine Ceremony.

Friday, my mom came to town and helped us with last minute preparations for the weekend festivities with Shane's parents and our dear friend Colleen coming in later in the evening. Saturday was the big day and we all got up early and headed downtown for the School of Medicine Ceremony. My dad me the rest of the crew in the crowd while I met up with my MPH friends. The ceremony itself was very MD centered however, the luncheon that followed was all about public health and was really a celebration of our class! It was a blast! Not to mention the view from the hotel's "Panorama Room" was incredible! Sunday, we celebrated with friends and family with an Open House & Brunch.

With my parents at Sunday's Open House & Brunch.

With my Grandma Reichard at Sunday's Open House & Brunch. She is one of my favorite people!

Me & My Shaney... the best husband ever!

While there are just a few pictures here, the following link will take you to the shutterfly.com gallery so you can check out a lot more of them!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AauXDJq2ctGLS

Finally, in answer to the question, "what are you going to do with your time now?", I have a list;

- learn to play guitar (thanks Jill!)

- learn a few new knitting stitches (thanks Mom!)

- do some much needed deep cleaning and organizing (thanks Shane!)

and

- RELAX with Shane & Macabean!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you that have supported me and us while I was in school! I am truly blessed with amazing family and friends and I am so thankful to have each of you in my life!

Let the Maddnes Begin...

2009-04-26T21:47:00.009-04:00

The Chapman household is a flutter! I am inching closer to graduation and so I've been busy with end of the semester projects and tests and stuff in general. Shane is busy with work as this is the start of his "busy time". Even Macabean is getting in on the action checking out the birdies that come with springtime!

Bean chirping at the birdies... er, chirping at me telling me to stop taking my picture and help him get at the birdies!

Yesterday, I took my Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. It's an optional certification that I opted to sit for. I should get the results in about 8 weeks. It was a tougher exam than I expected so I really hope I passed! Shane was a great cheerleader and support and I am so thankful he is so tolerant of all my school related craziness!

Today, we decided to take a little break from everything and take a little road trip up to visit our friends Jenn and Jon and their new baby, Connor. He's only 6 days old and soo tiny and newborn and of course very snuggly! It was nice to hang out, relax, and enjoy friends.
On our way out the door to see the new family!

Baby Connor awake and getting snuggles from Aunt Erika!

The hat I whipped up for Connor. It's the same yarn from Baby Anderson's blanket.

In the next few weeks I have a work trip to Virgina/DC area, graduation, Woods Reunion, our 5th wedding anniversary, and the nine inch nails concert with some work peppered in there! Oh, and David, Denise, and the kiddo's are moving back to the states!!!! We are so blessed and excited and ready to welcome spring!

... and your weekly dose of Macabean... enjoying the sun!

Welcome Babies!

2009-04-21T22:02:00.002-04:00

This week we welcomed two new little ones into our circle of friends!

On Monday,our friends Jon and Jen welcomed their first baby, Connor Eric (8lbs 1oz, 22 inch long) and we are soo looking forward to meeting him this coming weekend (meaning look forward to pictures!) !!!! Congratulations and welcome to the world Connor!!! It's about time to joined us!

And

Our friend Melissa adopted a new puppy into her family!!! We think his name is going to Nicodemus, big brother Darwin isn't totally sure yet but he's cute so I'm sure he'll fit in nicely.

And while it isn't exactly baby related, I got an A on my Infectious Epi paper! Only 19 days left!

more coming soon....

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T15:00:00.003-04:00

We hope everyone has a peaceful and blessed Easter!

Shane and I celebrated with a little brunch this morning. I made banana bread (my first time from scratch), chicken salad on croissants, and big yummy grapes. As Macabean doesn't really enjoy chocolate bunnies or peeps he was treated with a nap on the couch this afternoon.

We have both been insanely busy with work and school and so after seeing precious little of each other as of late we went and saw "Observe & Report" last night for a little date night. Otherwise, nothing too exciting...

Again, have a beautiful Easter! It's Spring!

Soo Behind...

2009-03-29T20:56:00.005-04:00

I have been terrible about posting! Not that we have tons of excitement to share but Shane did celebrate his 32nd birthday and we had friends stay with us this weekend for another friend's baby shower. Plus, who can live without a little Macabean cuteness?

So on March 13th, we were joined by several of our friends for the Doug Stanhope (Shane's all time favorite comedian) show on the northside of Indianapolis. We had yummy dinner at Scottie's and then headed to the club for the show. We had a great time and it was so much fun to just hang out and relax with friends.

See... Shane DOES smile... a lot actually... he's a very happy birthday boy! Thanks Everybody!

This weekend we had a shower to welcome Baby Anderson who is coming in May. Our friends Colleen and Sarah came and stayed Friday and Saturday and we enjoyed lots of girly time while Shane played video games and watched movies. I promise to get pictures up once I rescue them from my dying camera. My little point and shoot I have had for years is on its last legs and is being cranky. But pictures will come...

Otherwise, it's work, school, and more work... with happy interruptions from Macabean. It's so much fun to play with him and watch him being goofy when we've had a long day at work. So here is a little Bean to brighten your day!

Just cleaning his toes... it's the cutest thing to watch...

Hiding from a thunderstorm under the "kitty magnet blanket". He had actually fallen asleep at this point despite the scary thunder.

Friends, Bricks, and a Birthday...

2009-03-07T15:51:00.005-05:00

I feel like we have so much to update! Not that we are super exciting but its fun to update nonetheless.

Last weekend I travelled to Hobart, IN (near Chicago) to begin welcoming our friend Jenn and Jon's coming little one, Connor. Jenn's mom, Melissa, and I planned the shower with lots of surprises and everyone seemed to have a great time. It was also fun to catch up with some of my girlfriends that I don't see nearly enough of. Oh, and for those of you following the sweater saga, it was finished in time with appropriately sized arms!

The infamous baby sweater finished and ready for Connor!
Me, Jennifer, Melissa, Colleen, and Sarah. I love these ladies!!!

This week I was in Atlanta at a national meeting for work. In the evenings we had free time and I was able to go downtown and visit my Olympic brick in Centennial Park (and our niece Mikayla's too!!). It was a good trip with lots learned, a new hard cider discovered, and some great new friends.

Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta (right near my brick!).

My brick... I know it's dark... just trust me :)

Shane and Macabean had a great week of "man time" watching movies, playing video games, eating scrambled eggs every night (don't ask, I have no idea), and generally enjoying time without me making them watch "Gossip Girl" and making them keep the socks off the floor.

This week Shane is celebrating his 32nd birthday!!! We have tickets to see his favorite comedian who just happens to be in town on Friday and I'm making my famous quesadillas for dinner as per his request.

Wew... okay... mostly caught up now!!!! Enjoy!

Adorable Macabean Picture of the Week.

Hotlanta...

2009-03-02T17:34:00.002-05:00

... although at 30 some odd degrees it is definitely not "hot" right now... although they promise 70s by the time I leave on Thursday.

This week I (Erika) am in Atlanta for work. So far, so good, just hanging out in my hotel room waiting on a few colleagues from around the country to get in so we can turn around and go out and enjoy a tad bit of Atlanta before the meetings begin. Shane and Macabean are looking forward to "testosterone week" at the apartment :-)

Once I get home I have pictures from my trip up north for my friend Jen's baby shower and hopefully an update on what we will be doing to celebrate our anniversary.

Until then, have a great week!!!

A Little Mid Winter Celebrating

2009-02-15T20:29:00.004-05:00

First and foremost, Happy Birthday Grandpa Stover!!! He will be 80 years old tomorrow and while we weren't able to make it to Nebraska for the celebration we are wishing him a great day!

Shane and I have never been big Valentine's Day celebrators and we were engaged on the 15th so we usually just use the days as a good excuse for going out for dinner or making something special. This year, we decided as busy as we have been we just wanted to relax and enjoy a little time together without fighting the crowds, etc. Soo... we made ourselves a super yummy crab and shrimp dinner here at home complete with our favorite bubbly and red velvet cake! While I enjoy getting dressed up and going out to a nice dinner, cooking with my Shaney in cozy clothes is pretty amazing in its own way.

Cooking together.. it's a rare occasion. Shane wants me to point out he's wearing his "New Egg" shirt.

Yum! Crab legs cooking!!!

Can anyone say leftovers?! But what tasty leftovers they will be...

For those of you that are concerned about Bean, rest assured he got to enjoy some yummy crab too!
Otherwise, we've just been busy as per usual with work, school, my mini training, and enjoying a few days of unseasonably warm weather early in the week before it got cold again. Ahh.. Indiana weather!

We hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day and are staying warm with the ones you love!

A Little Family Time

2009-02-08T20:14:00.007-05:00

I swear every time I posted I say "we're busy" and we are but it feels a little silly saying it all the time but we have been!!! We have in the past few weeks both had some dental work so we've been enjoying soft and taking care of each other.

We've also gotten lots of family time in! Last weekend Shane's mom and dad and Todd and Roxann came and we celebrated our traditional Chapman Family Christmas in January. We had a really nice visit with them and even rocked out with a little family Rock Band :)

Family Rock Band time. Cheryl on vocals, Todd on drums, and Shane with the guitar. Frank and I are groupies??
This weekend we went to Terre Haute and had lunch with my Dad and brother Aaron. I also had the opportunity to take Aaron's senior pictures. My baby brother is growing up so fast...

A little sneak peak at Aaron's senior pictures. Aaron and I love this one...

Me and my brother and dad... See, despite being the only blonde there is a little family resemblence!

Otherwise, we've been busy with work, me with school and training for the mini (erikahatesrunning.blogspot.com), and of course enjoying this recent blast of 50/60 degree temps in February. You gotta love that in Indiana we get 12+ inches of snow one week and then next its a heat wave..

Till next time...

Macabean is hiding...

More Snow Day Pictures

2009-01-28T19:36:00.004-05:00

A few more pictures of all the beautiful snow we got last night/today. The news confirmed we got 12.5 inches and tied as the 4th most snow in Indianapolis history! We decided about 5 o'clock we needed to dig the cars out so we can get to work tommorrow.

These were all taken with my phone. The first one is the circle from my building after work yesterday when the snow was just getting started. Sooo pretty!!!!

Snow Day 2009

2009-01-28T10:23:00.004-05:00

After conflicting weather reports (and Erika's 2.5 hour drive home on Tuesday night) we awoke to 10+ inches of the fluffy stuff outside today! IUB (where Shane works) closed campus till at least noon and IUPUI closed campus for the day so he was excited to sleep in. Erika on the other hand had to decide to take a personal day or dig out and go into the office... Erika took a personal day when she found her car looking more like an igloo than a car... So we are home for the day. Erika has her work laptop and a conference call at 3 so she'll be doing some work and Shane is likely going to do the same but all in our warm little apartment with Macabean to help.

So on with the snow pictures!!!!

January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T12:44:00.005-05:00

There are no real words but a few pictures...

January 20,2009 at 12:05pm

When the future President visited Indianapolis in May...

Lazy Three Day Weekend

2009-01-17T16:07:00.003-05:00

So I know I said I wanted to be better about a.) us doing cool and adventurous stuff and b.) getting more pictures up here and I really, really do.... but we are enjoying our three day weekend by being totally lazy!!!

Shane had some dental type stuff done Friday and it's been so darn cold, it seemed like a great weekend to laze about, work on getting ahead on some school stuff, and generally enjoying each others company. So that's what we are doing. All perfectly good stuff but not too exciting.

Brr!!!

2009-01-13T19:23:00.002-05:00

It's really cold here in Indiana!

We of course have a lot going on. We welcomed two new little friends this past week. Our friends Beth and Jason had a little girly, Zoe and another couple of our friends Amanda and Ryan welcomed Caroline, after a day out of shopping with Aunt Erika I might add :-) Welcome to the world little ones!!!

We are both fairly busy at work getting things ready for various 2009 projects. Classes started for me yesterday although I missed it because I was taking a federal assessment in Chicago (I also got a super nice visit in with Jen, Jon, and Madison the Rottweiler). I also start my mini marathon training program this coming week. Macabean is freezing and has been a super snuggle puff with us and basically being his normal adorable self.

One of my goals for this year is to update a little more often with a little more fun stuff so stay tuned.... and by all means, STAY WARM!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T11:30:00.002-05:00

I think I speak for us all when I say, "Goodbye 2008, WELCOME 2009!"

We hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and blessed new year!

The Holiday Holiday Break

2008-12-29T21:33:00.003-05:00

We hope you all had a peaceful, warm, and wonderful Christmas!! We travelled "all the way" to Nobelsville and celebrated with Todd and Roxann. We all had a yummy Chinese dinner before going to candlelight service. We all cooked on Christmas morning and enjoyed a nice relaxing Christmas day together as a family. We all our family that we weren't able to share the holiday with but overall a great day complete with kitty snuggles from Chloe and Lilly!

When Shane and I got home we opened gifts sent to us from Denise, David & the kids direct from Canada! They sent us wonderful goodies but we miss them so very much.

Goodies from Canada! So colorful and wonderful and ahh.... :-)

These few days between the holidays have been thankfully very relaxed. We're waiting on you 2009....

Macabean is enjoying this whole relaxing thing...

Christmas is Coming...

2008-12-23T20:31:00.005-05:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow?! Shane has been on vacation this week and doesn't go back till after the new year. I'm off starting tomorrow and then it's back to work on Monday. We'll be celebrating this year with Todd and Roxann at their home in Noblesville so stay tuned for what will likely be a very relaxed holiday.

This past weekend we visited my Grandma and Mom up in Anderson and got a very wee visit with my Aunt Becky. It was soo good to see my Grandma, words can not describe how blessed we are to have her in our life and how thankful I am to have her as my Grandma.

Otherwise, we have been trying to relax and enjoy the "beautiful" aka cold, icy, and windy weather we're having here in central Indiana. We hope everyone is staying warm and safe and has a peaceful Christmas!

Much Love,

Shane & Erika & Macabean

Lost & Found

2008-12-15T19:23:00.003-05:00

So Saturday after the Woodsie Christmas Wonderfulness I came home and took my rings off so I could knit. Sunday I grabbed my little handful of rings (eternity band, engagement ring, Woods ring) and put them on, on my way out the door. My wedding ring wasn't there but I assumed I just didn't grab it in my little handful so I went without it (really busy day). This morning I go to put it on and it was no where to be found. I tore apart the bathroom, under our bed, the kitchen, living room, dining room... you get the point... still nowhere.

While I'm a generally positive person I do tend to go into panic mode when it comes to important things like MY WEDDING RING!!! So I start crying, wake up Shane, make myself late for work and still no ring. Shane convinced me to go to work and we'd look for it when we get home. So as soon as I get home I get on all fours and look all over. I couldn't find it so I decided to at least make the bed because I'm a cleaner and then I saw it, my ring!!!! In the middle of the bed, unharmed, and waiting for me. Ahhhh... and all is right with the world again....

The crazy thing about all of this is that I RARELY take off my wedding band and I was soo mad at myself for taking it off to begin with and all the while it just slipped off while I was sleeping... grrr... oh wells, at least its safe on my little finger now!

Super Duper Busy Week

2008-12-14T18:26:00.004-05:00

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity! Monday, my mom came for dinner and a visit in honor of her birthday on Tuesday. Tuesday, we went and finished our Christmas shopping. Wednesday and Thursday we were visited by our friends the McQuiad Glatfelt's and Friday we went to Bloomington for dinner with our friends there. Saturday was the Woodsie Christmas get together and then finally, today, we went to Terre Haute to Celebrate Jack's birthday. We are exhausted.... to say the least. We've had a great time but we are worn out.

In the midst of our busy week we got all of the gifts wrapped, took Christmas pictures and got cards made, and started work on the Christmas letter. Our tree has been up since the week after Thanksgiving so its been fun to actually get things wrapped and under the tree and watch Macabean use it as a cave.

A few outtakes from our Christmas card "photo shoot". You can tell Macabean was very cooperative.
I'm sure I'll post more this week as the holiday spirit spreads....