Princeton High School Class of 1989 20 Year Reunion

Shawn & I at the reunion dinner.

Wow - somebody tell me where the time goes!!!

This past Saturday night was my 20 year high school reunion. Now if I'm being honest, I should tell you that up until about a year ago, I never would have considered going, and I haven't been to the others we've had in the past - but a little thing called Facebook literally changed my mind.

If you don't know what Facebook is, it's a social networking website that lets you find and reconnect with friends old and new. Now obviously there are people for and against these sites, but for me personally, it has brought me back in touch with people I really thought I would never see or hear from again. In my younger years, this probably would've pleased me - but I hope that I've "grown up" over time, and it's true that the things that were significant in high school don't mean jack squat nowadays. Life is too short and too important to waste on the petty stuff - and that has been reaffirmed through Facebook and my Reunion.

We had a pretty huge graduating class (800ish), and a good number of them showed up Saturday night. I was nervous at first, but it quickly dissipated. I think everybody had a wonderful time, and through Facebook and the Reunion, I found that I know/remember a lot more people from high school (my class in particular) than I thought I did.

So, if you're on Facebook - look me up and request me as a friend. I wish I could post all the pics on here (all of them are posted on Facebook), but here are a few from the evening for the blog!

Some of us pre-partying before the doors opened.
Maybe I'm biased (or just refuse to believe we've really aged), but all the girls I knew in high school have become beautiful women!
My good childhood friend Shelly.
My best friends from school & St. Gabe's: Lori, Denise & I
More great friends of mine - partying on the dance floor!

Ben & Ari's and Daddy's Birthday

Shawn turned 41 today, and the poor boy had to go to Vegas today for a week for work (yeah I know, let's all give a big "awwwwwwwwwwwww" as we REALLY feel sorry for him - NOT!)

So we decided to do something fun with the family on Sunday for his birthday instead. I would've thought he would pick the new Dave & Busters that just opened near us (he's been a HUGE D&B fan since I've known him - there's been one in Cincy forever and he and his buddy Jon used to go there almost every day for their lunch breaks years and years ago). Anyway, the young ones wanted to go to Ben & Ari's (a smaller version of D&B's for kids) so Shawn didn't even hesitate. So off to video game madness and putt putt golf we went!

Jammin' on the guitar one of the kids got with their game tickets. Doesn't look 41 does he? ;o)

Blake riding the waverunner game - he actually did really well!

Blake might be a future Tiger Woods - this was 1 of 2 Hole In One's! My iPhone doesn't have video like Shawn's or I could've captured one of them - he was so excited!!!

Grant wasn't quite as lucky - he fished a few of his balls out of the water!

Evan was in concentration mode - he didn't even know I was taking pictures of him!

We spent about 10 days with family in Atlanta and Hilton Head! It was a great vacation - I don't think any of us wanted to come back to "reality"!!!

It was hard to choose which pictures to post - I have about 200! So here is 10% of them! Enjoy - we certainly did!!! Can't wait to go back next year!!!

Grant lost his very first tooth right before we left - so here is a picture of him on the plane before we took off for Atlanta.

Friday night we went to a baby shower for my sister Melissa. She is due with her 2nd child (sex & name still unknown) in September. Her friend Karla made this awesome cake all by herself - I was impressed!

We drove into HHI on Saturday. I always love stepping onto the deck of the beach house and taking in this view!!!

The whole Elmlinger family (my immediate family) together again - in the pool even!

Tried to capture this awesome pink and blue sky at dusk one night - doesn't really do it justice, but beautiful all the same.

Usually I am the Queen Packer - but for the first time ever I forgot to pack PJ's and underwear for Blake. So it was off to Wal-Mart to pick some up - and we got his cousin Kyle a matching PJ set. They LOVED them!

Blake checkin' out the waves one dusky early evening . . . I think he's trying to decide if he should go in there or not.

Until he decides, he and Grant begin building some sand castles instead.

There was this really neat out-of-the-way beach bar called Coco's. The guys all went one night and then took Melissa and I the next night. It was really cool! Check out the monster "fat" straws!

Me, my brother Greg, and my sister Melissa at Coco's.

My boys in Harbourtown. Going to the lighthouse is always a must for them!

Hard to see them all up there, but that's Shawn and the boys up on top of the lighthouse.

Another favorite - the toy shop (although the ones in Coligny are better).

My surfin' boys - Shawn with Evan on the boogie board.

Me and Blake in the pool - he was quite the little fish this year!

One of my favorite pictures! Shawn and I at the beach. He has long arms, so he took it with my new iPhone.

As you can see, it took no time at all for Blake to brave the waves! He was almost too adventurous for my liking!!!

I think I see the purchase of a surfboard in our future - Evan was awesome riding the waves, and they were probably the biggest waves I've ever seen in HH.

Another favorite adventure is taking the boys into Savannah, GA - more specifically, the Savannah Candy Kitchen on the waterfront.

On our last night we ordered in from Steamers - this was the platter Shawn got and yes, he ATE IT ALL!

NEW CARPET, PAINT - it's like a new house!!!

Well, after a painstaking 2 months of putting our dog down, researching carpet pricing and getting an interior decorator to help us pull all our colors together - we finally headed into the homestretch 10 days ago by painting EVERY room on our main floor including the 2-story entryway and upstairs hallway (except the kitchen - that was already done professionally and is probably my favorite room in the house), and the carpet was installed today! I'm so happy to be almost done. We still have some trim painting to do (the doors mainly, I already painted the entryway wainscotting, staircase & spindles, and baseboards), and we'll have some accessorizing to do as a lot of our old picture frames and such don't go with the new colors we've painted. We also sold our living room furniture that you see in the pictures - so we'll be looking for furniture sometime in the future that will fit better and be more usable, but overall - I'm really happy to be practically finished!

I hope you enjoy the pictures - I'm not trying to be boastful at all, but I'm really proud at how it's all turning out . . . and have I mentioned that I LOVE THE SMELL OF NEW CARPET!!! Ahhhhhh, miss my doggie - God rest his soul, but I don't miss the smell. If you want to come visit in person - feel free, but leave your shoes at the entrance! haha!!!

Also, if you live in the Indy area and need carpet, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND CUSTOM FLOORS OF CARMEL. Phenomenal pricing, first class installation and installers - NOT ONE NICK OR SCRATCH on any of my new painted walls! Call and ask for Jerry Urick - I think they'll beat anyone's price (and we got several quotes)!!!

If you need someone to paint - DON'T CALL ME!!! I WON'T DO IT EVER AGAIN!!! ;o)

Our installers were AMAZING!!! Here they are putting down our new 8 lb. pad - it's a lovely green don't ya think?

Still working hard in the dining room and living room.

I think I would've hated this part - the stairs did NOT look fun to carpet!

The finished family room - I think the kids liked it!!!

Finished with furniture! Did I mention that these guys from Custom Floors moved all the furniture for us too, AND put it all back EXACTLY the way it was - I was totally impressed!

Finished Dining Room and Living Room.

Office carpet and color! Shawn LOVES his new office color (same as the family room color) - not the greatest picture as we have to re-wire all the computer stuff, but we'll get it done soon.

The entryway - definitely needs some accessories, but we're working on that too.

4th of July Fun

Our 4th of July was a little more low-key than in years past! We weren't able to financially support our big annual 4th of July party (because my husband is a closet pyro and loves to blow stuff up). But we still had a great weekend and good times anyway - despite the horrible rain on the actual 4th! Luckily the rain held off literally until the celebration in our community park was over!

Friday night we hung out with our good friends (the Combs') for a cookout then headed to another friends house for her 40th birthday party, then came back for more happy hour fun at our neighbor's house. On the 4th, we got up early to start the day off with the annual Party in the Park. Our neighborhood homeowners association puts on a 4th of July party for all the residents. We had a parade, a llama course (Yes, I said LLAMA), food, games, prizes and good music/entertainment by Grasshopper Entertainment (that's a plug for you babe)! It was actually sweet of him to do it as he had to DJ a wedding downtown later in the afternoon. While he was gone at the wedding, I decided to paint some more (I'll post pictures of that later this week when it's all done) since it was raining non-stop! We went down to our neighbor's on the cul-de-sac later that evening as the men were insistent on putting up some "firepower" despite the rainy conditions! Sunday was a veg day, and another neighbor of ours wanted Shawn to set off his fireworks for him, so they came over and we had a very miniature show-version of our usual event which you can see by clicking here

All in all, a very good weekend!!!

Blake wasn't too sure about checking out the llama...

Shawn with his hatchback outdoor mini-equipment Grasshopper Entertainment set-up! Works well when rain is expected - makes for a quick & easy pack-up!

The parade gets started - I got to ride in my cop friend's car so I got some good shots of the kids riding their decorated bikes around the neighborhood.

Grant and Blake - right up front and behind the firetruck!

Games and prizes - yep, that's what it's all about!!!

Grant did all the games at least 2 or 3 times! His goodie bag was loaded!

Sunday night sparkler action.

Fun on the pond...

It was a beautiful evening last night. We had just gotten home from the Fishers Freedom Festival and were hanging out on the back deck when Shawn got a wild hair and decided to put his kayak in our pond. Now granted, he's done this before - but technically you're not "allowed" to do stuff like this. Sometimes, you just have to defy the rules I guess... ;o)

"Ummmm, is it okay to paddle here?"
Paddling up to our neighbors house - also the former president of our homeowners association!!!
Blake was dying to go, so we dug out his lifevest and hoisted him in!
As you can see, he absolutely loved it!
Grant was next to follow suit - at first he was like "okay, but dad - don't go past Mrs. Pam's house" (our next door neighbor), but once he got going, they ended going all the way around the pond, and he didn't want to stop.
Here's to the FKA - Future Kayakers of America!