The Ups(ide Down)

Oh, hello there.

Did you think I'd forgotten about my little corner of the Internet? Or that so much time had passed since our trip to Spain that I couldn't possibly remember the details? Or that I'd gotten stuck in the upside down with Eleven and the gang?

Well, the truth is somewhere in the middle - I haven't forgotten about my blog, though I have lost a lot of details about our Spanish adventure, and yeah, I can't get enough Stranger Things.

A lot has happened in the past couple months and not all of it is good. Fortunately, I have editorial control over this here blog and today, I choose to focus on the awesome things. Things like:

---Being married to Wheat for two years. Our second anniversary came and went without much fanfare, but I have to say - being married to him is the easiest thing I've ever done. You know how people always talk about how difficult it is to have a happy, healthy marriage/relationship? Not for us. Not yet, anyway. Maybe we're still in the "honeymoon phase" and maybe things will be harder once we have kids running around, but man - loving and being loved by him just comes so naturally.

Wheat had a game on our actual anniversary, so we went to dinner at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse downtown, the day before. You can't go wrong with dressing up to eat unlimited meat, right?

---Winning a contest for haunted house tickets. Do317, my favorite Indianapolis event website, ran an Instagram contest asking users to write a scary story in 10 words or less. The winner of the contest won four tickets to two different haunted houses downtown - Nightmare on Edgewood and House of Trepidation. Guess who won. My story: "I woke up to someone knocking...on the closet door."

Although Wheat hates all things scary and haunted, he agreed to accompany me to the haunted trails. **see item above about how easy it is to love him** We had an absolute blast. House of Trepidation was a lot tamer than Nightmare on Edgewood (where the actors could actually touch and grab you), but we thoroughly enjoyed both. We attended Nightmare on Edgewood on "Lights Out" weekend, so we made our way through the trails with only a glow stick to light the way...and they definitely grabbed us. The highlight for me was the Midnight Double Feature section, where the props and sets were designed to look like memorable scary movie scenes and the actors were dressed as iconic villains (Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Krueger, Jigsaw, Pennywise, the guy from Jeepers Creepers).

---All the Halloween things. Have I mentioned how much I love Halloween? Over the course of the last month, we have indulged in all things related to my favorite holiday. We picked a pumpkin and did a corn maze at Russell Farms. We sat on hay bales and listened to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Irvington (a neighborhood named after Washington Irving himself) before being visited by the Headless Horseman. We took a chilly haunted tour of downtown Indianapolis where the guide regaled us with stories of supernatural occurrences at the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, Slippery Noodle Inn, Union Station, and more. Of course, I wouldn't let Halloween pass without making Wheat dress up in a couples costume. This year, we went with Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster from Rugrats.

We wore our costumes to Irvington's annual Halloween festival, which completely blew my mind with its cuteness. The main street was filled with vendors and food trucks. Every storefront had its windows painted with Halloween- and autumn-themed images. Bands played while a costume parade (that included toy soldiers, Beetlejuice, the Sanderson sisters, Hillary Clinton, and more) ambled by. For a small donation, we spun a prize wheel and walked away with an issue of The Walking Dead comic book. It was basically my very own Halloween dream world.

---A trip to Baltimore for my cousin's wedding. Over a month ago, Wheat and I traveled to Baltimore to watch my cousin Cody marry Alyssa in a gorgeous wedding at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The views of the Inner Harbor were spectacular, little touches of Baltimore charm were everywhere (from the National Bohemian cake to the Orange Crush signature drink), and oh yeah - THE ORIOLES BIRD SHOWED UP! We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing with family and exploring Fells Point and Federal Hill. Did I mention ridiculous views?

---All the other happy odds and ends. Birthday celebrations at a cabin deep in the woods with friends, a fire pit, and lots of food. Warm chili with crackers and sour cream. Exploring new places in our city. Brilliant red, yellow, and orange leaves. A house in Greenwood that the owner decorated with mannequins and props to look like the set of The Walking Dead. Apple fritters and cinnamon cider donuts. Long-overdue lunch dates with a couple of my best friends. Oktoberfest celebrations in my Ohio hometown. Kisses and giggles from my niece. Cuddling on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. And, of course, Stranger Things bingefests.

So yeah, it hasn't been all bad.