Small Joys: volume 12

It's been a minute since I've shared Small Joys on the blog.  Every time I write such a post, I proclaim that I will be better about posting on a weekly basis.  And then it's two months before I post one again.  I'm going to blame wedding planning for this one, and my crazy night shift schedule.  But alas, wedding planning is almost finished and I will be walking down the aisle in a big white dress a month from tomorrow.  I'm excited not only for the wedding but for the whole week of the wedding. At work, I have graciously been allowed to have the week off so that I can travel home and tie up last minute wedding details.  I am also hoping for lots of beach time (even if it's just a few early morning runs at Wrightsville Beach), Port City Java coffee (on my wedding day, this is what I demand.  Not Starbucks with "bride" written on the side.  But PCJ), snuggles from Gracie Lou (though, I need to be careful because she gave me a bruise that was about a foot long the last time I was home), and tasty treats from some of my favorite Wilmington restaurants.  I guess I'm spending a lot of time telling you about things I'm looking forward to, when really I should be telling you about what is presently filling my cup with joy.

No. 1: Hints of spring.  Oh man, I have never been happier for spring in my entire life.  This may seem like a large statement to make, but I am so serious.  After the winter we have had here in Indianapolis, I am ready for spring weather, bright colors, spending time outdoors, and refreshing runs through the city.  A few weeks ago, 30 degrees felt like the beginning of spring to me.  Then, yesterday, it was 60 degrees and I actually was HOT on my run.  Oh, I love it.  I can't wait for more of spring.

No. 2: Making a house a home. Or, making an apartment a home, I suppose.  I've spent a lot of my down time over the past week or so making little adjustments in the apartment to make it seem homier.  Last week I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (THE BEST) with my friend Marissa and bought some crafting supplies and some already made items to decorate my home with.  Marissa gave me a great idea for a door decoration that took about five hours to make, but I am majorly in love with it, so definitely worth it in my opinion.  Here's a sneak peak at some of the new things:
                            

From the top, we've got a wine rack from Shannon & Bryan that I am IN LOVE with (though, it was entirely frustrating to get it properly hung on the wall.  I thought you just stuck some nails in, game over.  Nope. It involved a stud finder, some fancy plastic piece going in the wall, a drill, leveling.  Good thing Scott helped/did it all.), my yellow picture frame over the peephole just like in Friends (I can take no credit for the creativity here.  I totally stole this idea from my old roommate, Chancey), crafted twine-covered jars (an old pesto jar and sun-dried tomato jar) in an attempt to "style" my coffee table, Marissa's door decoration idea that I also stole, and a welcome sign that I couldn't resist from Hobby Lobby.

No. 3: Running.  After a long, harsh winter, I have taken to hitting the streets in my running shoes once again.  It has felt REALLY good to run, and it's kind of fun to run in a big city.  I haven't made it to the true heart of downtown with my runs yet, but the little neighborhood I run through has glimpses of the tall buildings every so often, so I get the big city feel without having to stop for traffic lights at every corner.  I'm by no means back up to my old speed or distance, but I'm at a respectable 2.5 miles for now and I'm ok with that.

No. 4: Memories of home.  I took a quick trip home to surprise my mom a few weeks ago, and though I was sleep deprived from working a night shift and immediately traveling home, and though it was a brief stay, it was so lovely.  It felt like spring in North Carolina.  I had some sweet tea, snuggled with Gracie, celebrated my lovely mom for her birthday, and had lots of family time, with both my current family and the soon-to-be family.  

Me & Gracie waiting for Mom downstairs on her birthday

No. 5: My new job.  Oh man.  Can I be honest with you? I actually love my new job.  It's similar to my job on 3 West, yet the floor I'm on now is more of a progressive care unit, so I'm learning a lot of new things.  I love the people I work with on night shift and my manager is amazing.  Also, I recently found out that an old friend from my first job up here (the job I loathed) is coming to work nights on my floor, so I am quite excited for this!  I still have the same frustrations with nursing that will always exist, but I'm in a place where I feel well supported and where I feel that I can safely take care of my patients.  

No. 6: Study breaks with the soon-to-be husband.  So Scott has pretty much endlessly been studying since I moved up here, but we've managed to find a few moments here and there to take a study break and actually hang out.  I love those moments and am happy for more of them once his boards are over.  Yesterday was the year mark from when Scott had proposed, so we did a little celebration at Scotty's Brewhouse downtown as his study break.  I just want to say that I did not declare this to be an official anniversary, though, Facebook did.  Scott got me a surprise gift that I am way too excited about and cannot wait to find a frame for. I'm just going to go ahead and declare Scotty's Brewhouse as one of my favorite Indy restaurants; I know it's a big statement, but I seriously love it.  That and Monon Food Company. Mmm. So good. 

No. 8: Girl dates.  A few weeks ago, I was reading the book MWF Seeking BFF, which was a true story about a girl who documented a whole year of girl dates in order to meet a new best friend.  I am definitely not on that sort of mission, but I do enjoy hangouts with friends.  I don't have many in Indianapolis yet, but I have two sweet ones from back in NC that are up here and one who is native to Indy that I enjoy hanging out with.  This week, in the span of four days, I managed to see all three of them.  Thursday night I had Lindsay over for a home cooked meal, lots of wine (too much wine, really), and hilarious conversation (compliments of the wine).  I love nights like that and hope for many more in the future.  Friday I went to Hobby Lobby with Marissa and also had a fabulous time with her just looking through things we wanted for our homes and making crafting decisions.  Sunday, post night shift, I had coffee at my favorite local coffee joint, Mo Joe's, with Kayla; we chatted about work and life and friends and dreams.

No. 9: A clean home.  Nothing beats this, in my opinion.  I spent a snow weekend a few weeks ago getting rid of a bunch of clutter and organizing my apartment (in preparation for the boy moving in-- gotta make some space!); my task since then has been maintaining the clean/organized space.  It got out of hand from this past weekend and I spent about an hour pulling it all back together last night, but I think I've made it so that it will be easier to maintain than it was before.  My heart is full when my home is clean.

No. 10: Anticipation of visitors.  I have the privilege of anticipating TWO upcoming visits in the next week and a half.  This weekend my friend Lindsay will drive up from Louisville to visit for a couple of days.  She & my friend Kirsten were supposed to come a few weekends ago when we had a huge snowstorm up here, so I'm glad to at least be able to reschedule one of the visitors!  And next weekend, my dear friends Susan and Claire will travel from NC to spend 4-5 days here in Indy with me.  I'm SUPER excited to see them both as I haven't since the day they helped me finish packing for my big move back in November.  I am so excited for these visits, and am even going to go out to purchase Frozen when it comes out to prepare for Susan & Claire's visit.  I'm picturing lots of nights watching that along with Tangled, baking tasty treats, and laughing until our faces hurt.  Can't even wait.

I think that's all for now friends! Lots of love to you all and hope to hear from you soon!  Maybe I'll see some of you next month when this whole wedding shindig goes down in Rose Hill.

Lots of love,
C.