Target Tantrum

We have now lived in the Fishers, IN area for 6 weeks and our local store of choice for shopping has become Target. We are finally near a nice Super Target and we are familiar with its set-up. We love their deals and Emily wanted a few things before heading back to school tomorrow, so we made a special trip. It was a wonderful trip until we went to checkout.

I want to preface the next portion of this post with an apology to anyone who may take offense to mild rule breaking...

We got into line "Express Lane: 10 items or less". As the picture below details, we did have 13 items. We both discussed the situation once we realized we were slightly over the limit, but agreed it should not be a big deal to anyone. We could have split the transaction and paid separately, but felt that would actually be slower than just the 13 item stretch of the limit.

The cashier was completely fine with the size of our order...it did fit nicely into a single bag, except the delightful woman behind us did not agree with our transaction. She felt the strong compulsion to point out we had more than the allotted 10 items, and proceeded to insult our ability to count and expressed her distain for us for breaking this "serious item limit crime".

This woman was quite displeased that we would do such a thing when she was in such a hurry. She huffed and puffed and complained. She glared and name called. By any definition, her performance would be one of an oscar quality tantrum.

tan-trum: (or temper tantrum or tirade or hissy fit)is an emotional outburst, usually associated with children or those in emotion distress.

She tried to make us feel bad for slowing her down and breaking the firm "10 item or less law", but actually it made me sad. It makes me sad because she appeared happy with herself and that she smiled victoriously at us as she left the parking lot because she said something to correct a wrong in the world. I pray that she one day understands that there are far more important things in life than being upset at the grocery store.

Saturday at the Zoo

Zach knows that I LOVE the zoo! I'm not a huge cuddly animal kind of fan, but I love admiring God's creation. It just shows how perfect God is because who else could produce such different and interesting creatures.

Anyways...back to the zoo. The past two summers Zach has taken me to the Fort Wayne Zoo (which is an awesome children's zoo), but on Friday night he mentioned that he had a plan for Saturday morning--to go to the Indianapolis Zoo. Needless to say I was excited since I hadn't been there since college!

I kept asking Zach if we could go to the dolphin show (and he agreed) and it was our first stop. He took lots of pictures but since the lighting was off we didn't get great ones, but I like this one below.

The trainers can get these creatures to do crazy stuff!

Next up was the "desert" area which consists of you walking through an area with lizards and tortoises and birds (not my favorite).

Next up was the "plains" area. This is by far one of the bests because I love African animals. They are HUGE and so remarkable. I'd love to go on a safari someday (hint, hint Zach :-) )

Good pic of the giraffe! Every time we see a giraffe, I am reminded it has a black tongue. Very interesting fact in case you didn't know.

Very huge and filthy rhino. It just grossed me out how it would roll around in the mud!

New exhibit at the zoo (I think it was put in last year) is the cheetah area. Very lazy animals, but wouldn't you be if you were in a zoo and someone just brought you your food and you didn't have to hunt?!?

My fav picture...an elephant eating some grass.

Second bear picture in 2 weeks but this one was WAY lazier. Such a pretty animal!

Amanda the Red Panda is sleeping, but still taught us that "God listens to you"..."Thank you God". (Thought I'd throw in some Pandamania.)

After the zoo we headed to Keystone to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and along the way we drove through a rough part of town and saw this guy. I just couldn't resist taking a picture and he didn't seem to mind either.

I did notice a couple of things after our trip to the zoo:

1) Everyone looks at you strangely if you are at the zoo without children

2) The Indianapolis Zoo seemed so much larger as a 6 year old than it does as a 26 year old.

Overall it was a great Saturday morning with my favorite guy!

Great Smokies

This weekend we took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains at Cades Cove in Tennessee. Cades Cove is a 20 mile driving loop in the foothills with multiple stops and several hiking trails. Emily and I decided to go on a hike and had heard that the Abrams trail was very nice. It is a 5.0 mile trail that is rated as a moderate difficulty. We both felt that we could manage the hike, but I have to say it wore me out. I was tired from the hike, but the sites we saw were well worth the sweat...you will see what I mean in a few pictures.

These hiking pictures were taken early on the trail because if they were taken later, we wouldn't have been smiling so much.

Like I said...if you look closely, I was sweating quite a bit. I am pretty sure I did not bring enough water for the hike.

They had quite a few steep hills, which apparently means biking down them can be dangerous to your health.

My favorite part of the trip was finding a black bear. Emily told me that the park we were at had a large black bear population (approx. 2 bears per square mile). Since we only saw one set of bears the whole trip, I have to assume that it is not as many bears as it sounds.

The pinnacle of our trip was this waterfall. At the halfway point of the hike was this beautiful fresh water lake and waterfall. The water was cool and refreshing...just what a sweaty group of hikers could ask for.

Following the hike, we were both tired and just wanted to go back to the hotel so I suggested taking a "shortcut" road. The map showed a road called "Big Mountain Rd" and lead out of the park towards our final destination. On paper this looked like the perfect answer to getting back quickly. It turned out the road was a one lane gravel road that was extremely winding and 12 miles long. Our top speed was 7 mph in a subcompact car climbing huge inclines. I guess I should have known better when the sign said that the road is normally closed in the winter and is named "Big Mountain". Not my best decision for routes.

The road did provide us with one last great view of the park...high from atop the mountains.

Start Your Engines (Indy 500)

I can now say I have been to the Indianapolis 500, "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing", and I have to say it sure does kick the little 5 bike race's backside. I actually had a very good time, and that coming from a guy who hates being in large crowds (~300,000) and excessive noise. The weather was beautiful and we (Kristoffer and I) had amazing seats for the race. I had to bring the camera to mark this day because it was the 100 year anniversary after all.

Prior to the race they had set up a giant full sized hot wheels ramp with an actual driver performing the jump. I guess he set a new world record in jump distance, but that was just the opening act.

At the start of the race they are going 3 wide and gradually build speed until the green flag. I thought it was kind of cool, but it is more exciting on restarts when they are 2 wide and are fighting for position.

Early in the race the "sparks were flying", something I never knew that actually happened. And the noise of the track was amazing, loud enough to make you feel the action.

The Target Duo lead most of the day and were my fan favorite from the start, just because I recognized both of the drivers names. They by far had the fastest cars of the day, but could not pull out the win this year.

The "Venom" car was my favorite looking and was driven by an Andretti, so I respected the car and mildly cheered for him to do well.

From our seats we could see both turns 3 and 4. Turn 3 I was told is generally the spot of most crashes because of the tight turn, but it turned out that turn 4 and the straight away got most drivers.

I really did enjoy the race. I am not going to call myself a racing fan by any means, but I do have a bit more respect for what these men and women do out there. I know I would love to drive 230 mph, but not in a circle. The day as a whole had its ups and downs, but all around it was a good day at the race track.

Here is a bonus question for you... Can you tell me what is wrong with this picture?

The answer is...he is missing a rear tire. He lost the tire coming out of pit road because it was never secured down. Yes, I think that guy will be fired by the time you read this post. The driver of the car was named "Will Power" (best name in racing) and he started the race is the second row, but this one mistake took him entirely out of contention.

Graduation Party!

On Sunday, I had a graduation party in Logansport with all of my family and several of my friends growing up. It was a wonderful gathering of the people closest to me. We had a meal served and two kinds of cake. It was my kind of party. Here are a few pictures and captions to go along with the day.

This was my welcome table, I thought it looked pretty good. My favorite part is the tiny DPT after my name...it just makes me chuckle.

One of my cakes...seriously can I get another Dr. on there somewhere...I am kind of a big deal.

My friends of old, Dustin (left) and Alex (right), my best friends growing up. We picked up where we left off...the sign of a true friendship.

My best man, my buddy, my bro, my best friend Brandon. He made the long drive up just for a couple hour party. You have to give him credit there...I didn't even want to drive that far for my own party.

And of course...the greatest moment of the day for me was my Grandma Emogene being able to come. She had fought through some bad illnesses and poor health over the last few years, and it is rare for leave the house. I have not been fortunate to grow close to many of my grandparents because they passed before I was old enough to remember, but Emogene has always been there. I don't get to see her nearly as much as I would like. She is my hero...I call her bulletproof because she is the strongest woman know. She is still holding our entire family together. She is an amazing woman...she is my grandma.

One last thought so I can finally close the chapter on my college career. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my journey. I have the greatest friends and family, who always show me how much they care. I am proud to have accomplished such a degree, but I have to give a large amount of the credit to my beautiful wife Emily for being my rock these last 3 years. She is my motivation to succeed in life and proof to me that dreams are possible.

WOOHOO...DR WHALEY!

Zach did it...he is finally a Doctor of Physical Therapy! I'll post about the graduation later this week, but here are a couple of photos for those of you who are interested to look. I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work! Thank you to both of our families for celebrating this special day with Zach and I...we love you all!

Indianapolis Indians

What can I say about the Indianapolis Indians? They play baseball at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis. They have a pretty cool logo. They are the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburg Pirates (not a great major league team). They are the closest thing we get to professional baseball here in the great state of Indiana. But most importantly, the start of baseball indicates the start of spring, and there is no better way to spend an evening in Indy than watching your local team play ball.

You never know what you will see at one of these games. On any given night you might just catch a glimpse of the local celebrity..."Peyton Manatee" or his faithful friend "Tiger Woodschuck".

The games are great fun for everyone. Children love the park and they have games set up all around for them to play. Some kids are just too cute...I had to take this picture even though I have never met these kids. They just show the innocence and enjoyment that is baseball on a Saturday night.

Unfortunately, the Indians play a lot like their parent team...awful. The below picture is the typical for the night. Just a little bit off and letting up the run. Letting up 11 runs to be exact. They were playing a good team, the Durham Bulls, and were just out matched all game.

Not to say that they didn't have their own moments of brilliance, but they did only score 3 runs.

I just love Minor League baseball because you never know...you could be watching the next great Major League slugger. Maybe one day these guys will be house hold names. Or, maybe not, but that is what makes it great.

Give it some time and the Indians will be back on top of the Triple-A ranks. I have a feeling they will be calling this little guy up the ranks very soon. Just look at his form...it's textbook.

If you love people watching or just love a peaceful night outdoors, go see our Indianapolis Indians. For the price of a ticket, it really is the best deal in town for a fun night out.