You know it's cold when...

a) weather.com says it's "5 degrees, feels like -10."
b) your dog goes outside to go potty and has to keep lifting one paw from the ground while she's peeing.
c) your face hurts after being outside for 5 minutes.
d) your mascara from your top lid ends up running below your eye due to the wind hitting your eyes and causing tears to form.
e) all of the above.

Due to it being so cold outside, poor Indy hasn't been able to go on a walk for the past two days. Don't worry -- it's not just me who doesn't want to go. She stands at the door like she wants to go out, but when you open the door, she's like 'uh-uh...no way.'

To entertain her, I've purchased a laser pointer, and it's the best decision I've ever made. See the laser light in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_2xj-Jq_1I.

Colts fans!

I'm a girl of few words tonight. Here are more pics from the weekend...

Ooh you're like the sun...

...chasing all of the rain away. When you come around, you bring brighter days...

Imagine, you're at a dive bar, and suddenly you hear this beautiful music. What could it be? Oh, why it's none other than little old me singing karaoke at the Living Room Lounge in Indy. All I have to say is Kendall and I brought "Always" back, baby! We had the whole place swaying and singing along. We really had a moment there.

Road trip!

Guess who's making the trip down to Indy for the weekend? Yup, that'd be me. I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping Megan's mom gets a Peyton cake again like she did for the playoffs last year. :) (Psssst....Megs....pass that on to Carol.)

Don't worry, Indy (the puppy) will be staying here in Minnesota with my lovely mom who agreed to babysit. They'll be celebrating Indy's birthday while the Colts win the Superbowl. Does that make me a bad mom/pet owner? I'm missing her first birthday... However, it is for a good cause, and I'll be back the very next day. I hear she has fun things in store for her, like a play date with her cousin Adamas and lots of playing indoors (since it's going to be a high of 3 degrees this weekend).

Watch for some pictures and fun stories from Indy next week...

Indy's almost 1!

Indy at 9 weeks old... Look how little she was!

She's growing up right before our eyes... That's right, Indy turns 1 year old next weekend on Superbowl Sunday. How fitting that her team, the Indianapolis Colts, are playing in the big game. I think it's a sign.

World's Shortest Fairytale

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl, "Will you marry me?" The girl said "No" and she lived happily ever after and went shopping, drank martinis with friends, always had a clean house, never had to cook, had a closet full of shoes and handbags, stayed skinny, and was never farted on.

The End

*Props to Kate for sending this to me. :)

Never gonna be jello

I went out to dinner tonight with my aunt Katie (who is more like a cousin/friend) at a great little place near me called "Fat Lorenzo's." Grrrreat hoagies.....and they have gelato, which I didn't try this time and I'll have to try next time. Anyway, so Katie and I were talking about exes and boys and girls and relationships and all that great stuff. And I'm trying to decide what to think about the fact that this came out of my mouth: "I want to meet a guy who is normal, who looks forward to talking and relaxing with me at the end of the day and who goes out to dinner with me and doesn't even think about looking at other girls." I mean, is it sad that that is what I'm looking for? Does it mean that I'm pretty pessimistic about guys not even living up to that standard? Or does it just say, "I'm over dating someone just to date and I'm really okay by myself until someone who is more serious comes along"?

During our discussions, I also mentioned a chat I had about a month or so ago with my cousin Jess. She and I pretty much think that we have had such great role models of men in our lives (our dads and uncles are just really great people -- strong men, comfortable with showing their emotions, have strong convictions, very loving and caring people) that it's really hard to find someone our age to date in a serious manner because no one has stacked up to the standard set by our male family members. I'm not complaining at all and this isn't meant to be a blow to any of my guy friends out there. However, this does make a girl's dating life a little challenging. It's like you meet someone and think they're pretty great, but really, they don't stack up. I know what's possible, and I'm just not seeing it. It's like in "My Best Friend's Wedding" when Julia Roberts tells Cameron Diaz "You're creme brulee. He's looking for jello. " And Cameron says "I could be jello." And then Julia says back, "You're never gonna be jello."

Go Colts!

Go Colts! If you don't already have plans this weekend, here are some good ones for you.

What: AFC Championship game

When: Sunday, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m. central time

Who: Colts vs. Patriots

Why: Cheer on the Colts to beat the Pats so Peyton gains the confidence he needs to make it to and WIN the Superbowl!

Where: Any local bar/pub/living room/place with a tv/Indianapolis' RCA Dome

Go Colts!

Tonka + Indy = True Love

Tonka and Indy pose for their New Year's portrait. Unfortunately, Indy's ADD got the most of her so she couldn't sit still for the shot. Notice how large both of their tongues are. :) It's a match made in heaven.

Tonka is Angie and Pat's 150-lb., 2 year-old Newfoundland. Isn't he cute? Indy likes to lay on top of him and try to lick or bite his face. And Tonka likes to stand over Indy and hump the air. Ahhhh.....there's nothing like being in love.

Happy New Year!

So I know I've been slacking. After a couple weeks of solid daily and nightly activity, I needed a break, so I've been catching up on some reality tv (Beauty and the Geek is one my new favs...is that bad?), reading Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope," playing soccer with Indy in the snow and seeing some good movies. I guess it sounds like I'm still busy. Oh well....

Anyway, I hope everyone had fabulous Christmas and New Year celebrations. Although you might have already heard about my crazy Christmas surprise (or perhaps you were in on it), I'll share a little recap of what happened.

Well, my brother-in-law, Taylor, invited me and some cousins to join him and Stacy for dinner a couple nights before Christmas at a Greek restaurant that is located in the old train depot downtown St. Paul (really cool old building). I thought, "How nice! Taylor is such a thoughtful fellow." So we show up for dinner and are just about to order drinks, when suddenly we hear, "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!" My first thought was "Oh cute, carolers." Stacy's first thought was, "Stupid carolers interrupting our dinner." Then we look up at the balcony where all the music is coming from and .................... it's the rest of our displaced family members from Texas! After staring at them for about a minute, I finally screamed, and Stacy and I both jumped up from the table as everyone ran down the stairs to greet us with hugs and funny stories from their month and a half of secret-keeping. Apparently, they had planned this whole surprise for that long -- I'm shocked that no one let it slip.

Anyway, after the surprise, it was just a great weekend. Very busy and so fun to have everyone together for the holidays. I love being able to watch people open their gifts, too. It's way better than mailing the gifts and then just hearing about the opening later.

So everyone was in town this year -- Jason and Felipe from London; Dad, Beth, Kate, Alyse and Jeff from Texas; me (cause I live here now); John and Chris from California; Bill and Sue from up north; and then all the rest of the crazy St. Paul/Mpls. crew.

Here are some videos from Christmas Eve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpzk3Z0SZi8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmJW_MMk07E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNPDzXKUYQ8

Below are a few pics from the holidays. View all the pics here.

The Brady Bunch















My hot mom wearing the sweater I got her



















Fun at the Tiffs-mas party