Video Chat with Adelina

Video chat is one of my favorite things, because it allows me to see and talk to Adelina regularly, even when she's thousands of miles away. I love this sassy little girl, and it makes me so happy that she frequently asks her parents to call me. My favorite sound is, "Hi, Kakee!"

Here we are in a mean-mugging competition. I'm pretty sure I win. I love her!

Friendsgiving

A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, my roommates and I hosted a Friendsgiving dinner. We invited friends from church and school and had a delicious meal together. Carrie made the turkey and the rest of us contributed sides and desserts. I introduced everyone to sugar cream pie. It was a great night of fun friends and delicious food!

Me, Alanna Norman, Rebecca's friend Ian, Joey Coons, Brian Dodge, Christian Hargraves, Rebecca Buxton, Helena Flaxbeard, Johnnie Martin, Carrie Stephens, Josh, and Kismet.

Yum!

Jonah's Birthday Date

Jonah's birthday is November 2nd - my last birthday date of the year! He chose bowling as the activity, so we went to Pinheads. When we got there, they said it'd be a short wait, so we ordered some food and hung out. A few minutes later, the guy at the registration desk came over and apologized - he'd messed something up, and it was actually going to be a longer wait than he'd originally said. To make up for his mistake, he gave us two free games of bowling and he gave us both arcade cards to use while we waited. We ended up playing arcade games while we waited for our food, then ate, then it was time to bowl! It worked out perfectly, and it was all free, except for the food!

We split our time between games that get you a lot of tickets and games where we could compete against each other.

We spent the most time playing basketball and air hockey. I whooped him in basketball - check out that score! - but he beat me in air hockey. I also beat him in bowling, but to be fair, I've had a lot of practice this year, taking a few of the other kids bowling for their birthdays!

It ended up being a really fun night. Jonah is a smart, fun fourteen year-old, and I'm so grateful to be his aunt!

Monumental Kids Marathon

Each year, students at our school are invited to participate in running club, which is a club that meets before school twice a week to train for the Monumental Marathon 5K. All schools in IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) are invited to participate, and kids get to run an official 5K race for free, right alongside other racers. I didn't help with running club, but they needed extra adults to run with the kids during the race and I regularly run a few miles on my own anyway, so I volunteered to run with a group.

It was an early, chilly morning, but once the sun came up it was a really nice morning for a run. Teachers Gene Markiewicz and Sherry Sullivan.

I got assigned to a really fun group of fifth and sixth grade girls - Carmen Carlos-Kelly, Chelcey Adams, Laci Smith, and Aubrey Brown. A few other girls ended up running with us, too. The girls did a great job sticking it out, even when they got tired.

Some college-aged volunteers had helped with running club, so they came to support the kids during the race.

Our principal Kathleen Miller and her husband Chad with some of our students.

Teachers Stacie Stanley and Aaron Munson

Sherry Sullivan

All the IPS students wore these bright orange shirts - part of the Monumental Kids Movement!

Getting pumped to start!

The Pacers cheerleaders were there cheering on runners, so the girls snapped a photo with them!

I love this city!

TFA Indy Gala

The Teach For America Indianapolis region had a fundraising gala in November, and they asked alumni to come as ambassadors - talking with potential donors about their experiences as corps members and the good that Teach For America is doing for kids in Indianapolis. I like fancy things, so I happily volunteered to participate.

A few of my current co-workers are also TFA alum, so I was able to talk with them a bit, and I was also able to meet other community members who care about education and about Indianapolis - two things very dear to my heart!

My favorite part of the evening was hearing the various stories of some of the current and former corps members who are doing great things in Indianapolis. I was impressed by the hard work, creativity, and dedication of those who shared their stories, and it was cool to see how alumni are affecting education in Indianapolis from a variety of angles. It was a beautiful event, and I was inspired to re-commit myself to working even harder to improve educational opportunities for all kids in Indianapolis!

Gospel Application: Every Day Charge

Scripture study is like charging your cell phone - skip a day and you'll be sorry!

I charge my phone every night. I start with a full battery, but throughout the day I drain the battery through normal use. Some days, I can make it through the day just fine and connect when I get home. Other days when I use my phone more frequently, I have to plug it in at work or in the car to make it through the day. No matter what, I have to charge it over night or there's no way I'll be able to make it through the next day.

Similarly, I have to read my scriptures every day. Some days, I get through just fine on my regular one-time scripture study, but other days life is more draining, and I need an extra dose of spiritual juice to get me through. Either way, I have to have get into the scriptures at least once each day in order to have the spiritual strength to keep my covenants and live the gospel.

30 Days of Celebration for 30 Years of Life

I turned 30 in November, and I'm not even going to pretend that I felt ok about it. It's been a crazy year full of a lot of self-evaluation, but I decided that I wanted to face this new decade and celebrate my previous three. I love celebrating my birth month anyway, but I decided to celebrate every day - even in a small way - and document it. It was fun and it gave me an excuse to celebrate, which I love.

Day 1: Pumpkin cream cheese-filled snickerdoodles and Day 2: Reading in bed and leftover Halloween candy. Also, those Butterfinger cups are BOMB.

Day 3: Popcorn (a food I've finally labeled as one of my favorites)

Day 4: A beautiful run in 72 degree weather - on November 4th! I've loved this winter!

Day 5: Oreo Thins (which are surprisingly satisfying) and Day 6: New music from my favorite girl!

Day 7: A super fun 5K with kids from school. I ran with a group of sixth grade girls who were cute and fun and told me I was cool, so that's always a plus.

Day 8: Rice Krispie Treats with my Sunday School class celebrating Mason's birthday (I love celebrating with all the other November birthdays!)

Day 9: Unveiling our new media center at school to some very excited, very happy kids. Our whole staff worked really hard to get it ready and it looks fabulous. The amazement from the kids made for a really fun morning.

Day 10: Baklava! It came from Aldi but was surprisingly good. It couldn't compare to the baklava we ate in Turkey, of course. I miss that stuff!

Day 11: We had a family event at school with pizza and I ate none of it. NONE OF IT! That was a miracle and a huge accomplishment for me. Definitely worth celebrating.

Day 12: This week had been crazy. This day was likely my only day to run all week, which is not good for me physically or emotionally, and it was cold and cloudy and windy all day. I got home from work and didn't even want to go, but I went. Within a block, the sun started peeking out. By 2 miles in, it was a full on beautiful fiery pink sunset. By the time I got home, the clouds had taken over again and it was back to dreariness. I choose to believe that I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows my heart and my needs and gave me this perfect little miracle of a beautiful sunset just at the right time. I feel His love and I know He is real

Day 13: New music from the Biebs, who I hate to admit that I love and birthday dinner with my parents and my nephew Holden - new rain boots and other goodies from my parents!

Day 14: Birthday party at my house with roommates and friends and my beautiful sister!

Day 15: Friendsgiving!

Day 16: Leftover sugar cream pie from Friendsgiving. I am not lying when I tell you that handheld pie is my favorite kind of pie. Day 17: Free black bean burger with peanut butter from Scotty's! I went to dinner with my good friend Ashley who talked me through all my problems. She's a lifesaver.

Day 18: Sushi with Rebecca. I think this was the second round of sushi in birthday month, which is about 28 rounds short, but still respectable.

Day 19: Ice cream cake with my fellow November birthday Emily. It's so nice to have two national holidays in a row. 

Day 20: THE DAY! New Adele and killer birthday breakfast at the Bongo Room in Chicago, followed by exploring Chicago, free donuts, thick hot chocolate, deep dish pizza, and a James Bay concert with my best friend!

Day 21: Round two at the Bongo Room, including some french toast that was legit out of this world, followed by a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry (loved the mirror maze!), and a viewing of the final Hunger Games movie accompanied by some movie theater popcorn, of course.

Day 22: My roommate Alanna found out how to make one of my favorite dishes - turkey tetrazinni -and made it for me for my birthday!

Day 23: I took this picture myself, which means I saw this angel face in person! I flew out to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, my brother Isaac and his family, and my sister Micah. To be clear, Adelina was my main incentive for going, but it was fun to see everyone else, too!

Day 24: A run in gorgeous sunshine and mild temperatures followed by a walk with this goony girl and an impromptu late-night chat and popcorn session with my mom and brother.

Day 25: Birthday candles - finally! - and Day 26: Cinnamon rolls baked inside of apples. Mmm...

Day 27: Leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast and Day 28: My favorite Christmas product - white fudge Oreos!

Day 29: Target conned me into buying way more Christmas decorations than I needed but I'm not sad about it! That wreath filled my soul with joy every time I saw it.

Day 30: Throughout the month, I've received so much love from so many people and I'm so grateful to have such good people in my life. I certainly don't have everything I hoped for at 30, but the Lord has blessed me with "angels round about [me] to bear [me] up," and that is worth celebrating.