Autumn in Indiana

Fall time in Indiana is always the best. I know I've gone on about this before, but it's the truth. It's something about those Midwestern colors that just does it for me. And while this year Dave wasn't here to snap lots of photos of the magnificent foliage, I assure you the colors were spectacular. 

My time in Indiana this year can be summed up into basically admitting that I just hang out with people all of the time, it's great. I think that since coming back to the States over a year ago now that I can say I've definitely made up for my lack of social life in Finland. I'm not trying to throw myself a pity party, no no, but I simply didn't have the funds nor the social circle to really be going out quite like I do now when I was in Helsinki. I am so grateful to be back in Indiana for this reason alone, there's something to do every night if I'm so inclined, and most of the time I'm inclined. 

On Thursdays any number of us try and go to a jazz bar called the Chatterbox, where there is always free jazz music, cheap drinks, and good company. One Thursday this fall there happened to be free (silent) films also being played on Monument Circle, so a sizable crew went to see the free films, followed by the Chatterbox. This particular Thursday as well, Erin happened to be home from Colorado, and that's always fun :)

Silent films on the Circle!

Even when skies are gray!

Chatterbox Crew!

Other happenings also included a long time pal of Katherine, Alex's and mine getting married this summer. We all went to high school with Pete, and he and I got close being a part of our high school cross country team. Pete moved away to New York City after college, and he hasn't moved back since. He met and fell for a lovely lady named Sarahana, and now they're married! Katherine and I were bummed we couldn't make it to their NYC wedding, but they did have a second celebration back home in Indiana. We were excited to celebrate their joyous occasion with them! And maybe we can weasel our way into an invitation to their Nepali celebration they're likely to have in the future (Sarahana is from Nepal). 

Cheers to love!

Other typical autumn happenings included trips to the apple orchard, obviously. There were plenty of trips made, many an apple cider slushie had, pumpkins picked, and apples consumed! I know I've said it before, but why not say it again, this place truly is my happy place. Bliss is an apple orchard in autumn.

Kate, Cricket and I with some pumpkins!

Apple orchard smirks.

Pumpkin fields!

Our friend group, as are a lot of millennials, is exceptionally hyped on Bernie Sanders. With it being an election season we've all gotten jazzed on the message that Bernie Sanders is preaching, and have all congregated around his momentum. This mostly means that whenever there is a debate that we all get together and watch it. For the first democratic debate one of the bars was hosting a viewing party, and that was a lot of fun to watch the candidates in a setting like that! I'll be hopeful that 2016 plays out like I want... #feelthebern

Bernie!

On the work front, there was a workshop held in Gary, Indiana, which is less then an hour from Chicago. This was a great excuse to then also have to go up to Chicago for a weekend, which I'm always pleased about. The workshop was about access to transit, and there was a local reporter who came to do a story about the event. I managed to have my picture in the Northwest Times :) The trip to Chicago was also lovely, with visits with family and friends, as well as finally seeing one of my uncle Joe's gigs! Joe is a drummer, and I've always wanted to see him play, and I finally got the opportunity, it was a lot of fun!

2 seconds of fame!

My favorite skyline!

Neat street art.

Knucklehead!

He even did a cover for me!

Then came Halloween! My favorite holiday of the year (tied with Fourth of July)! I could go on and on about why Halloween is so cool, but basically it boils down to carving pumpkins, which you have to go to the apple orchard to get, scary movies, and costume parties! We watched more then our fair share of scary movies at our house, almost nightly to be honest. We also had a night of carving pumpkins, while watching the Shining, my favorite! Then there was a show at a bar where Alex and Craig were to play a gig - that was a fun night. I dressed up as Shakira because I was fresh out of ideas, and a good time was had by all. Alex and Craig killed it with their horror punk band, and I hope they can reunite next year! On the actual night of Halloween we had a house party, that was a fun time as well.

My pumpkin is the one smack dab in the middle, with the cheeky grin!

Shola was some kind of bloody leopard?

Craig crowd surfing!

Alex also had another gig with his buddy David. They'd been practicing some cool post rock type stuff, and put on a really cool show one day this fall. It's always really wonderful seeing family and friends do the things they love. 

Holy Oath.

Then came November, which brought election day at the first of the month. I had never voted in Indiana, only in Arizona, and so it was a novelty to vote back in my home state.

Yes we can!

Fall time saw me, aside from spending time with friends, doing lots of running as well, as I'd decided to sign up to run another half marathon. This time I'd decided to run a half marathon with Liz down in Nashville - it was a perfect excuse to have to go and visit. After we finally agreed upon a race, and a few weeks of training had passed, Liz found out she was pregnant. Liz and I have been trying to run a race together for a few years now and we can never seem to time it right haha! Nonetheless, it was really good for me to have something to motivate myself with during the fall, and I got consistently good autumn light, especially on Saturdays for my long runs. Oh and congrats to Liz and Ryan! ;-)

My hometown :)

Hummel Park in Plainfield, where I actually grew up running.

Spades Park, right by our house.

Then came time for the trip to Nashville. I was so excited to spend the weekend with Liz and her little family, and also to test myself again, as it'd been just over a year since my last race. I got to Nashville on Friday after work, and Liz and I walked around their awesome little town of Franklin, a suburb of Nashville on the southwest side. Boy oh boy is there some money in this part of town, and it shows haha! Liz informed me of the countless country music stars who live in Franklin, and then it all made sense. It's a great place for Liz and Ryan to be because it has a great school system for Gabe, as he is a kindergartener this year! They grow up so fast!

Then Saturday morning was the run, and it was the best I've ever felt during a race to date! I was so pleased with feeling good, and the weather was just lovely, and it was a perfect storm. The course itself wasn't the most entertaining, going through another suburb of Nashville, Mt. Juliet, but I put on my headphones and fell into my zone. I clocked in at exactly two hours, and I couldn't be more pleased with that. Pacing myself isn't exactly a strong point of mine, not that I'm bad at it, but I'm also not exactly sure how to best monitor my splits, and somehow I managed. Also, and then I'll quit talking about this dang race, there were quiiiiite a few hills, as Tennessee is hilly, and I killed them! I'm not used to hills, and I was impressed with how I coasted through those :) And to top it all off I had Liz at the finish line cheering me on! 

After the race we had an awesome lunch with Ryan and Gabe, and man there is something to be said for southern cooking. I had cheesy grits with cheesy mashed potatoes and asparagus for dinner and I was so excited! I know, I know, that's a lot of carbs/starch, but when in Rome! You can't find cheesy grits unless you go south, and so I just had to. After chilling out a bit, Liz and I then ventured downtown so that I could get my full honky tonk experience, and I love Liz for her energy and eagerness to go out and about. She's my friend that is truly always up for an adventure, even while pregnant and miserable. So we bar hopped along Broadway, to see some of the classic spots and then called it a night relatively early on behalf of everyone feeling a tad exhausted. 

Sunday kicked off with brunch and then was followed with a trip to a cute little country town to the west of Franklin called Leipers Fork. It was one of those places where you felt like you went back in time a bit, and I always like those kinds of places. Then we took the long way back and gosh is the south beautiful with its rolling hills, I was lusting over the landscape pretty hard. Sunday afternoon was very relaxed, and Liz took me on another driving tour to show me some of the other parts of the area. She took me out to the Belle Meade Plantation, which is in another neighborhood called Belle Meade, and dang talk about money. I always knew there was a lot of money in the Nashville metro area, but wow! Finally we went for a snack in the neighborhood of 12 South, a very hip little neighborhood near Belmont University and Vanderbilt. After that we called my tour a success, and we headed home for a relaxing evening of Netflix. And then Monday morning I had to head home already. I can't wait to see Liz and Ryan soon, and to meet their babe soon too! 

Pre race, and Liz did the 5k!

Medal for finishing!

Right on the money!

Honkey Tonk was all around!

Gabe driving the ladies around Leipers Fork.

Foggy sunrises in Nashville on my way home.

Then before I knew it Christmas things started happening. I know I skipped over Thanksgiving and what not, but I'm smashing that trip with my trip to Florida together in a fall adventures post, so hold out for that. And while I know Christmas is technically in winter, the pre activities actually fall in fall, so here they are. Mostly I just wanted to acknowledge that my friend Shola and her husband bought a house this autumn, and that's been really exciting (they even trusted Katherine and I to help them paint their walls)! As a quasi house-warming party, they had an ugly sweater Christmas party, and I love me a good ugly sweater party. Katherine and I used the excuse to go to Value World and we stocked up on some real gems. I myself adorned a snowflake turtleneck with a denim Christmas jumper, and neon blue tights pretty cool, I know. 

We exude glamour.

Best friends forever :)

Roommates!

And that about does it for fall. I promise to recap my fall adventures, and my winter adventure before too long. Fall was great, as always, and winter has me feeling like blech, but as I write this we're already a month in, so only two more to go. Positive mental attitude is key to my happiness, so I'll end on a happy note. I know I don't always speak the most fondly of the animals I share my house with, but I will say that Winnie is the prettiest cat maybe ever. She also loved Katherine's Christmas decorations, and you could often times find her posted up next to the electric reindeer sitting very still, it was so stinkin cute. Cute animals make for a happy heart.

Winifred loves Christmas!

And just another one of Winnie for good measure!