moving wednesday

The New Year in Indy

On December 30 we decide to go up to Indianapolis for some fun. There's always tons to do up in Indy. It's one of my favorite cities to go too. This time we did somethings I've never done in Indy before! After living only an hour away for more than 15 years there is still things I've never done. We went to Momument Circle while it was actually open. I've been done to Momument a lot of times growing up, but never when it was open. For the longest time I didn't think you can enter it. I was wrong. When Allison and I were driving downtown we saw that it was open and decide it was time to go in. Once in and finding out you can go to the top we had to do it. I know, Michael going up a tower, bad idea. He's got acrophobia. Well, we decide to go up anyway. It was two dollars to use the elevator or free to climb the 300 plus steps. We did the steps. We made it all the way to the top without me freaking out. We had to take a couple breaks in the middle, but we made it to the top, and It's pretty cool up top. You can see all of downtown Indy. A fun time no doubt.

Summer is Coming to an End

I hate and love when summer is over here in Bloomington. One thing that is nice about summer being over it the temperature and humidity goes down. The leaves start to change color (that's still about two months away). The sun goes down earlier and earlier, which is nice for me since I go to bed early. Yes, autumn is coming and I can't wait.

The problem with fall in Bloomington, the return of the students. This has always been a double edge sword for me. Without the students I would have never lived in Bloomington period. When I was a kid my Dad taught at the University. Now my wife is one of those many students. There are many ways to tell that the students have moved back. Traffic is doubled through town. You can't walk through Target anymore. There are tons of extra boxes and people inside. It worst than Christmas.

Although the main way I know the students have returned is my habit of almost hitting them on the way to work. During the summer I have no trouble getting to work at four am. Hardly anyone is up and I don't have to worry about people dressed all in black darting out in front of my car as I drive to work. This week I almost hit four or five different people on their way home from the bars. You would think they wouldn't jump out in front of the only car on the road to cross the street. I am always the only car on the street, but they still feel the need to cross the street before I pass. I do not understand this, is waiting ten or twenty seconds really going to affect their time getting home?

As much as I love the end of summer in Bloomington, it's a bitter sweet. I love the crisp weather. I love the changing of colors. I don't like the crazy students jumping in front of my car at four am.

wordless wednesday @ the park

pawnee, in

Having returned to the almost a year ago I have missed many things. Fast food like White Castle and Steak n Shake. Humidity and all the wonderful thunderstorms. Moving home to Bloomington was an amazing idea. Yet I feel like there is another place in Indiana that I would rather live. Where is this place you ask? Pawnee, IN. What is Pawnee, IN you might ask. Well it's the most magical place in all of Indiana. Where libraries are hated (okay Allison might not want to live there) and the parks department is loved. Yes it's a fictional town, but it's my favorite fictional town in Indiana.

If you watch Parks and Rec on NBC you probably know all about this awesome city. At first I thought it was going to be a small city like Martinsville or Kokomo, but after more review it's probably as big as Bloomington or Terre Haute if not bigger. Plus the city has a television station which means it's not small. Since I want to work in TV this is already a plus to Bloomington which only has PBS and won't hire anyone outside of IU.

Why is Pawnee so great? They have a zoo, where two male penguins were married. They had to move the penguins because people were not open to this marriage, which I can't blame them. They also have the best breakfast restaurant in all of Indiana, JJ's. They're waffles are like crack. At least that how they're portrayed on the show. Pawnee has a whiffle ball league. How awesome is that? It's whiffle ball. You couldn't it a home run with one of those balls if you tried. The best part of Pawnee is the fact that they have the greatest Indiana band of all time, Mouse Rat (formally known as Scarecrow Boat).

Sure you might say but Michael why would you want to live in a fictional city? I say why wouldn't I? It's just an awesome place. Plus Parks and Rec makes the city look awesome. I need a little more awesome in my life. Don't we all need a little more awesome?

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, here are some holiday pictures from Indiana:

sold out

I grew up in a nice little college town out in Indiana. I love the town I grew up in. If it had it my way I would never have left Bloomington. Nothing stays the same though. I had to leave my beloved town to search new goals and discover new horizons. I would love to move back, but at the same time I discovered a new love; a new love for a town that is so different, but at the same time so much like my old town. I talk of my Boise. A little city nestled in mountains. I never thought I would fall for this town. It’s not my beautiful Midwest town I grew up in. It doesn’t have the beautiful trees that I grew up with. The air is morbidly dry and makes my delicate thumbs and lips split wide open. I bleed more in this little city than anywhere else I’ve lived. After two years of living in the city and two more years living in the surrounding towns, I’ve slowly fallen in love with my Boise. How can this be? How could I part with my beautiful humid Midwest town?

What would make me forsake my home? A place I’ve called home since I was eight? That is something I still don’t know. Today I was talking to one of my friends over pizza about Boise. She too is leaving Boise soon. She has to return to the dreadful Utah. She started talking about how she hated Utah and why Boise is wonderful. As we spoke in amazement of our adopted home, I came to realize how much I really do love this town we pass off as the big city. I use to hate how people made Boise the big city when it was not a big city, I’m not even sure it’s a city at all. It’s a quaint town that has sucked me in. This town has given me a university that I’ve thrived at and discover who I am. I love the green belt, a long walking park that I rode my bike on so many summer days; a place where I took my love to show her nature’s beauty. Boise is the town where I found the love of my life. I’ve grown to love the big city feeling in this town, maybe it is a small city. I will always cherish the fact that I found my wife to be in this town. Going to picnics in Camel Back, eating pizza in little pizza dives. Now I have my first home with my future wife. Not just an apartment, but a home. I hate to admit that Boise is my home. I will cherish this town forever. I love Boise just like I love Bloomington. I hope in my future adventures I can find a town like Boise or Bloomington to cherish as I have loved these two cities.