Day Trip to Brown County

If you're not from Indiana, you're missing out on the treasure that is Brown County. It's in southern Indiana, and it is GORGEOUS. I think it was three years ago, now, that I spent a weekend down there with Julie Crandall - and then last summer (as in a year ago), right before I started my job at the station, I went down there for a week with Rachel Ashley for a writing retreat. It's just such a serene place!

Ryan and I had on our bucket list to go down there for a day this fall, but it seemed like every time we tried to schedule a day, one of us couldn't get out of work. Sadness indeed. So at the last minute (but before I knew about the engagement) we decided to take Friday off and head down there. I was SO GLAD we did that, because after the Thursday proposal, I'm not sure I could have focused to work on a Friday!!

We drove down that morning, making wedding plans the whole way down. The area was scheduled to be yucky and cold all day, but when we arrived, it was sunny and not too cold, so we decided to go to the state park first in case the rain showed up later.

 First order of business was to climb this fire tower. Let me back up and remind you I'm afraid of heights. And objects in photo are taller than they appear...

 It took several come-to-Jesus moments, but I made it to the top. You'll notice I did NOT let go of the railing or of Ryan. He told me later he considered proposing to me here. I'm glad he didn't. He never would have gotten my fingers uncurled enough to put a ring on my hand!

 He had to take over all photography once we got to the top because I seriously COULD NOT let go. My hands are cold just typing about it.

 We were really REALLY up there.

 We thought maybe this would be a good first home...and we plan to register for doors. What do you think??

 More self-timer/tripod magic.

 We hiked around Ogle Lake, which is the same lake Rachel and I hiked around in the 23904 degree heat last summer. The trees were starting to turn and it was GORGEOUS out there.

 I am in love with this man who carries a tripod for us. (His idea, no less, thankyouverymuch.)

 Hiking...hiking...hiking...

 We took our time, stopping several times just to talk. It really was the perfect morning. PERFECT.

 Photo opps outside a little picnic cabin at the end of the trail. We got some strange looks from passers-by, but do we look like we care? Didn't think so.

 I love this one!!!

 By the time we were done there, it was past lunch time, and we were hungry!! So we drove into Nashville (which is the little touristy town in Brown County) and had some massive tenderloins for lunch. They were SO GOOD.

 Then, you know - a quick trip to the courthouse...

 HA! Just kidding. I mean we did go up there for the picture, but we did not get married. HELLO!!!

We spent a couple of hours just shopping around. We got some stuff for ourselves and we did some Christmas shopping too!!

Then it was time for our afternoon coffee break.

 During which time, it started pouring....and we finally gave up and ran (or galloped, as he described my running in ballet flats and too-long jeans) through puddles back to the car.

 One look at that hair makes me glad he already loves me!! :)

On the way home, we stopped at these outlet malls and did a little shopping!

And that was our post-engagement day-trip!!

It's the (BEST) Weekly Recap!

Man. I don't even think a recap does this week JUSTICE!!! But I'll try. :)

* Last Sunday was the day our church found out Ryan and I were dating. We put a lot of prayer into that day - more on that saga later. (I feel like I say that all the time now.) But anyway. It went better than we could have hoped, and people seemed genuinely excited for us. We appreciated that so much! After church, we had lunch with his family and people, I have to tell you. I have waited 34 years to have an in-law family, and never EVER could I have scripted such a warm welcome as that crew gave me. Unreal.

* Monday we celebrated a birthday at work and you've GOT to see these darling Pinterest inspired cookies that my friend Sheryl Glancy made. They are SO SO cute:

* Tuesday evening I went to Portland, Indiana, to hear Philip Gulley share some of his writing. He's a Quaker pastor who also writes fiction, and his writing is so entertaining. Jon and Julie (you all know my friends Jon and Julie) invited me to go with them to hear him. We had such a great time! This will crack you up. I met them at Pizza Hut for dinner first and Julie told me later that she'd told the workers there was one more person in their party coming. They asked what I looked like and she said, "Well, I think her hair is brown and...it might be straight...or curly..." LOL!!! My ADD for hair gets me in trouble!

* Wednesday evening Ryan came over and we went for a run. I had my best mile ever followed by my two worst miles ever. Take the good with the bad, right? :) Thankfully race day wasn't like that!

* Thursday, as you might have heard...um...I GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!! OH my word. I still cannot believe I am writing those words! Here's a sneak peek of the event for those of you who are not already tired of it from Facebook:

* Friday, Ryan and I took the day off work and went to Brown County. We planned that even before I knew I was getting engaged but I was so glad we did. No way could I have focused to work that day! WE had a great time and someday - you know in 3 weeks or so when I have you caught up on everything else...I'll tell you about this date!

* Saturday was so busy. (Wait. What day ISN'T busy??) Anyway. In the morning, I went to a 31 Party and then in the afternoon we went to a Tim Hawkins Comedy event and then to a pumpkin patch and corn maze. We're worried we might run out of pictures for the scrapbook so we keep scheduling things. HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinterest Inspiration: As you might have gathered, I did not have time, but I am so proud of my man that I just have to share this. He assembled this for me as part of my engagement gift - and he said he loved it so much, he thinks it is Pinterest worthy. I totally agree. So I'm putting it here and you Pinterest addicts be a dear and pin this thing to your boards so he can have his dream come true of creating something Pinterest worthy? (I am so in love with a man who utters the phrase "I think this is Pinterest worthy.") And for the record, it's a real rose dipped in gold - and then he put it in the jar full of coffee beans because coffee is our THING.

Helloooooooo, Fall!

Yesterday, I said goodbye to summer, inspired by Emily A. Clark's blog post. Well doggone it if blogger Courtney didn't welcome fall over on her blog! I'm such a sucker for peer pressure, so I (of course) have to follow suit.

I'm actually really excited about this fall. I love so much about fall. Love the colors, love the smells (well, most of them), love the crashing of cool temps and warm clothes, love the decorations...you get the idea.

Want to see some of the things I'm really looking forward to this fall?

I get to see Selah in concert for the first time. One of my FAVORITE groups (it was their song, Unredeemed that I posted on the blog last week) and I've never gotten to see them!

Apple Pie Chai. This is my favorite drink from McConn, the coffee shop at IWU. It is about the only thing I sorely miss in any given work day! Fortunately I still live close enough to make a little trek down there in the evenings...oh my goodness. Happiness in a cup.

My 10K Race. While I am nervous about it, I'm so excited to say I've accomplished it. I think it will be a very monumental day in my life! (Not sure if that's pathetic or not, but it's true.)

Trip to the Corn Maze! I went to a corn maze/pick your own pumpkin patch last fall for the first time and LOVED IT. Can't wait to go again!

Tim Hawkins!! Have you heard him? HILARIOUS. I've never seen him live either, but I'll get to see him this fall and I'm so excited. Need a laugh? Check this out:


Trip to Brown County! I love this place in the fall...so beautiful! Can't wait to spend a day there!

S'mores and hot dogs by the fire pit. I love a fire pit. I REALLY love a fire pit. Can't wait to curl up beside it and get my hair all smoky smelling. (And eat hot dogs and s'mores.)

Mercy Me Concert!! Another of my favorite groups...and I'm excited to get to work their concert!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? I am!!!!! I think I am going to get to my first ever Colts game this fall, baby!!!! (And clearly I'm going to need a new shirt.)

And somewhere in there...I might nap!

Day o Fun in Brown County

Thursday was a day of very little writing...but much other fun!!

Ronda came to visit - and I couldn't believe she'd never been to Brown County before! It's the very kind of place she loves and it floored me to find out she'd never been there!

When she first arrived, Rachel and I showed her around the cabin complex - including a trip to see the horses. One of the guys working on another cabin let Rachel help him take the horses out for the day. (They are the resident lawn mowers, so they move from yard to yard to tend to the grass.)
I even got to feed them some grass. (Grass for them...coffee for me...)

Romeo made an appearance while we were out. He was most interested in my coffee. No no, little doggie!!

He was really good at sitting - not too bad at shaking.

We ate a quick lunch at the cabin and then we went into Nashville to do a little shopping. This is one of my favorite stores...and here's one more reason why:

Rachel and Ronda - taking a break between stores.

Rachel inspired me to try on a hat. See, if I'd go this route, I could cut some SERIOUS time off my morning routine.

When we came back to the cabin, guess who came to visit?

Sit! Good dog!

Rachel "played" with Romeo. (She's much braver than I.)

Before Ronda had to go home, we roasted hot dogs and s'mores. I started a fire. Yep. Yours truly!! Without lighter fluid!

Some things were not meant to be kindling. Gasp!

Rachel fixed my fire.

Mama wasn't there to tell me not to play with matches...

Lots of matches.

Success! Rachel and Bekah's fire....complete with flames and smoke!

Hot dogs and potato salad - YUM.

And, of course, the s'more.

Someone burned her marshmallow.

Such a fun day! Loved it. Thanks, Ronda, for coming to visit us! We loved having you!

And that was pretty much our last vacation activity. We packed up the cabin that night and left the next morning. What a perfectly timed vacation. I came home ready to tackle my last week of work and then head into my brand new adventure!

Bekah Goes Hiking

The purpose of our trip to Brown County was to write. But we learned that you can't write every minute of every day - and stay sane. So...a couple of times, we ventured forth from the cabin to have a little fun.

Rachel LOVES being outside and she loves lakes and woods and trails and biking and such. Our cabin was just a couple of miles from Brown County State Park, so one day we took part of the afternoon to check out the park.
It was a beautiful sunny day but the heat index was nearing the 100 mark, I'm sure. We didn't wear shorts because we didn't want to get all scraped up by branches and poison ivy, but we definitely paid for that decision!

We hiked around Ogle Lake - which was about a mile and a half hike - but in the heat, it felt MUCH longer than that.

Stinks to be this tree!

Proof that I really was on the trails...because I know you didn't believe me.

Rachel checked out a little piece of another trail. I stayed on the one we were hiking. It was safer all around that way.

Isn't it just beautiful?

Despite the fact that I'm addicted to air conditioning, I really did enjoy our little excursion. Glad she wanted to go!

We found a dam. We're used to seeing ones made of concrete - not made by animals!

It has been a very rainy year here in Indiana, so there were some parts of this trail that were muddy and/or flooded that weren't supposed to be. Thought you might like to see me trying my hand at walking over a log. Heaven help us all.

Just call me Grace.

The Amish Chipmunk. (He didn't want his picture taken.)

This is the lake we hiked around. GORGEOUS.

And this is just what you see in Brown County. It's stunning - especially in the fall. (That's when I usually go - interesting to see the trees actually looking green!)

Thanks, Rachel, for taking me on my first hiking trip. It was much fun. Maybe sometime we can try it again. Sans the heat index.