Christmas miracle

Christmas was great this year. This one was special. My hubby was nice and surprised me with earrings he picked out himself and presented them to me on the anniversary of the day he proposed to me. He is amazing at remembering the important dates. 

The thing that made Christmas wonderful was the closeness that has been growing between us. Our marriage has been ok but not great, lots of things he has been going through and fighting. He has put in such an effort that has made things amazing between us and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. This new path we are on is the best present. 

Speaking of presents...

  This is hubby two years ago at his birthday.  He loved this sign and I just could never find it. Until now that is....

Oh yeah it's always time for a Feckin... Whiskey that is. 

Blanket Run 2013

Blanket Run 2013 was a blast!  I recommend it to anyone who wants to give to charity and get their car freak on. 

Meet up and blanket drop was at God Speed shop in Pittsboro; these fine folks have been putting on this event for the past 11 years. 

First stop was Bruce Littons collection/shop. 

He created his home town into an amazing collection. 

So you go through this town with a movie theater, diner, barber shop, church and then you happen upon this...

Oh yeah top thrill drag racing!

If you've never been to a full throttle drag race you must go!  

Next stop was Lewis shop where he does a good job restoring cars 

Lunch was at a World of Wheels partcipant whos garage was envived by my husband. 

Next stop...drool Andretti autosport!

It was amazing to have been at Dallara and now see how teams take that chassis and implement it. 

 

This picture is like going to a closet to just pick out what you want to wear for the day. 

I think I'll take the green one today. 

 The RVs were amazing, puts our race setup to shame. (Honestly a tent would too). When we got home my husband went to our RV and exclaimed that all our marble was stolen. 

I really could've spent all day there. 

Afterwards was Mo Vintiques. A restored garage with collectables. 

  The quilt I brought won a 20 lb award, the award will be given to the quilter. This award is ten times nicer then any I've won racing. 

I'm already getting pumped up for race season next year.  Now to get endorsed by a famous race team...

Down and out again...

So Monday, December 9, I had my final surgery to remove the long ass pin connecting both fibula and tibia. 

Of course it was the first big snow of the season and we were caught smack dab in it. WTF is freezing fog?  Wierdiest thing but true story it exists. 

Well I was scared of going under because this time it wasn't an emergency so I've had a week to get all freaked out. I was going under AGAIN for a simple screw removal. This time we were at Indiana ortho hospital. The concierge service is nice and very personal.  The process was smooth leading up to entering the OR that's when things got weird. While conscious they restrained my arms and chest to the operating table.  I felt the thick medicine go in and felt the warming sensation that was actually a burn. I was not a happy camper!  

Surgery took 15 minutes, real quick in and out. The whole admission took longer then the discharge. 

The only things that are still bugging me are that my nerves are bothering me, skin sensation is very tender and places still feel numb. I also am sleeping like crap, can't go a whole full night of sleep.

So Saturday we attended Bleed Blue. 

My hubby doesn't know a thing about football but he supports my love of it. 

 The one thing we always do is feel the turf as it's a thing of wonder. 

 Turf love

I liked the Hoosier Dome aka RCA dome but Lucas Oil Stadium is beautiful. A great combo of brick, glass and metal. 

So we then met up for the first time with a group of instagrammers from igersindy who had an instameet at the Circle. This was a new concept for my hubby who doesn't Instagram and was wondering why we were meeting strangers who like taking pictures. 

Got to meet an interesting array of people who (I wish I had more time) I wanted to pick their brain concerning photo apps.  We did a group photo and then they took off to explore other parts of downtown. Hubby and I stayed behind to  go to the top of the monument. 

We went all the way up there. 

Indiana state Capitol. 

JW Marriott covered in fog. 

We then attended my hubby company Christmas party but before we went we tried wine at Chateau Thomas. 

By far the worse winery I've ever been too. We waited at the taste bar forever even though there was only one other couple there. The workers were constantly uncorking bottles. I finally stopped a girl and showed my $10 because we wanted a tasting and asked if they were busy. She stated they had a tour and a dinner. I said I understand how it gets busy during the holidays. Pause.... more waiting. We FINALLY got a tasting and it was not good.  The wines flavored were muted. They had a strawberry wine that had the description of candied strawberry. It tasted like that fake strawberry you get in jolly ranchers not crisp and fresh like I expect wine to taste.   

To top it off they give you a shot of wine not a true tasting.   

So after that bad winery experience we went to the company party and had a good time. I'm so happy for my hubby. 

 

I love my man, Sunday we wake up and he comes up with the great idea to go to Oliver Winery.  Just a recap, Oliver wine is the drink of choice on the boat - screw top bottles, good over ice, and I half a bottle goes into my non spill sippy cup. I digress.  Upon looking up Oliver I see that Butler winery is near it, so off we go to the Upland wine trail. 

First stop was Butler Winery. Be prepared for a long windy road in the countryside that is beautiful. 

The tastes are free and for the holiday they had free mulled wine. Again we are sweet wine drinkers so we ended up with  the vineyard white which is a Catawba grape.  

Next stop OLIVER!!!!

The grounds are beautiful. 

So it was hard to find a sweet wine that I hadn't already had.  I also love the Bean Blossom Cider!  We took a tour and purchased some blackberry. 

We love eating local. So I asked the tasting bar employee where to go and she suggested Farm located downtown Bloomington. Local and organic- my two favorite food words. I got the Lugar Burger - bison meat and hubby got a goat cheese salad. Yummy!

So what's a proud Boilermaker to do in the rival IU town?  Sport her Purdue pride on campus duh!

The oaken bucket will come back home. 

So after getting on the field my husband asks what next...break into Assembly Hall!

We got to walk all the inside of Assembly hall but had to look at the floor through cracked doors. You have to admit the history of Assembly hall is pretty cool to take in. 

Horrible propaganda!!

It was good to feel human again and stay active. Is trouble sleeping an after effect from surgery?  I can't sleep a straight night :(

Blogger vs. tumblr

I've had a tumblr blog but never really use it but
am curious of what it can offer. 
Any ideas of which you like better?

Thanksgiving

My belly is full from Thanksgiving.  Ate at Hubby Grandmas house which was a good time then went to my family house which was an awesome time.  I think its more relaxing at my family's house because alcohol is involved :)
I hate not having holidays at my own home so I prepared my first ever deep fried turkey and it turned out amazing!!  Better then the duck earlier in the week.  I had to make gravy from scratch so I came up with this concotion.

Never to just relax, we went to Michigan and had some Whiskey at the Journeymans distlierry which was just ok, the whiskey isn't as good as it is in Kentucky, the only thing I liked from here was the vodka.

The main goal of course was wine from St. Julian.  I love going there and pulling out my wine club member card because I'm instantly greeted with a huge ass wine glass.  I wish my husband would greet me at the door like that everyday :)  Hubby was happy as we bought 3 bottles of his favorite salad dressing.  We then decided to hop over to the round barn and boy was that a mistake as we drank not only wine but they had beer too.  George was the helper there and man was he good!  I just can't say no to these people.

We ended the night with a good game of Texas Hold Em with my racing friends.  Where's my Godfrey?  I had them all under one roof!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Well the holidays are upon us...what are you thankful for?

Last weekend the hubby and I bought an Butterball indoor turkey fryer.  I'm excited because it also steams and boils.  We love our snow crab leg nights so this is awesome. 

Prior to the big day of cooking we decided to test it out on a duck.  Man oh man was it good, we then went on to make kettle potato chips.  The garage now smells like a fast food restaurant.  A mix of fuel and peanut oil.

It has been a week full of basketball, my little sister and her team won the Indiana Kitchen Tournament.

The next day my friend invited me to watch the Purdue men's Basketball game in the opener in the Old Spice Classic tournament against Siena.  A win to the Boilermakers...BOILER UP!

It has been quite a busy winter, I'm excited as I thought once racing was done that I would have a lot of downtime.  My dad called the other day and complained that I move too much that I'm on the go go too much.  I say I'm doing everything I want to do and enjoying life.

So I am thinking about what I am thankful for...

I'm thankful that my leg healed up fast and that I'm moving better then first predicted. 

I'm thankful for all my critters..

Stub

Wasabi

Lucy

Ronnie, Roxanne, and Steve

Dryer Lint

I'm thankful for my husband...

I'm thankful for my family...

and I'm thankful for my friends...  they were with me during my injury and gave me so much love and support that I don't even now how to repay.   I am very lucky to have you all in my life.

So here's to hoping we don't burn down the house or the bird,  have safe travels as we go from one house to another, and enjoy the time we have with each other because it goes by so fast.