Our Cozy Cabin

"Paradise Lake" on our family's property

We feel very blessed to have a weekend cabin to go to. My family (Hart side) has a large amount of acreage in Southern Indiana that has been passed down for years. The current owners are my Grandparents, my Dad, Uncle and two Aunts. One day this beautiful property will be passed down to my cousins and I, and then eventually to our children. It takes about 2 and a half hours to get out there; and while that seems like a long drive, it is totally worth it. We always try to leave on Friday evenings after work so that we have the entire weekend there. This time, I had so much homework due by Saturday night that I stayed up late doing homework on Friday and we left on Saturday morning. We got there around lunch time on Saturday and were excited for the weekend ahead.
Some weekends the entire family is there; but this time it was just my parents, my Uncle Dennis and my Grandpa. There are 4 cabins on the property. After years of having a trailer and campers on the property, my Dad built the first cabin a few years ago. This inspired others to build a cabin such as my Grandparents, my Uncle Dennis and Aunt Marcy and our family friend named Karl.

Dad and Mom's Cabin

Each time we went down we would stay in my parent's cabin. This year, Karl decided that he wanted to sell his cabin and we offered to purchase it. While we enjoyed staying in the same cabin with my parents, it is nice to have our own place to stay at and to personalize. The past few times that we have gone I have been slowly but surely decorating and deciding on improvements. On the top of the to-do list is: new bedding, new curtains, tile the counter and to hang photos. Kenny has other projects that he is working on such as building us an outhouse (don't laugh... when it is cold, you want it!), cleaning up the wood stove for winter and helping me with interior projects.
Our cabin is small, but cozy. It currently has 2 beds...but with limited space I think that we are going to replace one bed with a futon. Eventually we will add a television to watch movies, and maybe a small table that will fold out from the wall for eating or playing cards. It is the perfect little cabin for us right now. Maybe in the future we will build a larger one, or build on to the current cabin. So far Kenny has taken a couple of his friends, who really enjoyed it as well.
I can remember going to Southern Indiana as a little girl. My great grandmother "Mamo" lived just a few minutes from the property. The biggest tradition that I recall was going down there each Memorial Day weekend to watch the Indianapolis 500. Everyone would get out their folding lawn chair and sit around to listen to the race on the radio or a small TV with a large antenna. As I got into my teens I lost my appreciation for going. As a teenager who begins to experience freedom, going away for the entire weekend with your family can seem boring. I recall my Dad telling me on multiple occasions that I was missing out. I would go sometimes just to make him happy, but I did not appreciate it.
As an adult I have a ridiculous amount of appreciation for the property, and for this amazing gift that has been passed down in the family. This land gives my family a place to gather, a place to relieve stress, a place to have fun, a place for the guy's to hunt together, a place for everyone to swim together, a place to remember Mamo, a place to take care of God's beautiful land, a place to bring friends, and a place to make memories. I also feel very blessed that I married someone who has as much appreciation for the land as I do. Kenny not only realizes this blessing and appreciates that we have it, but he also goes out of his way to take ownership in the land and help with various projects to keep it up. I am so happy for that. We also cannot wait to bring our future children there one day, and continue on the tradition.

Hanging out by the fire and barn

Kenny shot his first Deer and Turkey on the property :-)

We make it out there about once a month...sometimes more. Working retail it makes it difficult to go out there as often as I would like to. This weekend was a very relaxing one. We spent a lot of time with Dad and Mom and the pups. Also, Grandpa and Uncle Dennis joined us for almost every meal and it was great to spend time with them as well. Saturday night we all watched a Will Ferrell movie called Everything Must Go. Honestly, it was the kind of movie that you keep waiting to become good and it never does. I actually fell asleep before it ended, haha. Today, Kenny and I drove to Ireland, Indiana to the "junk store". The "junk store" is a resale store that is actually called Ticked Pink. I love to go there during each visit to the cabin, especially now that I am making the cabin our own. I have found a lot of old trinkets to hang on the wall, or place on the shelves. They have great prices, and so much to look at.
Now, we are home again already. Dirty clothes are in the laundry, and Maya is already fast asleep on the back of the couch. The weekend came and went so quickly. How is it that the work day can drag on-and-on, and you go away for the weekend or go on vacation and it flies by? Can we reverse that, please? Back to the grind tomorrow... earlier than usual for my least favorite part of my job: physical inventory. And, tomorrow I am starting a 6 week Kickboxing Class at Hendricks County Hospital in Danville if anyone wants to join me. I will let you all know how that goes! I haven't done much cardio lately so this should be...interesting, haha! Have a great week everyone! I WILL have another recipe (hopefully good) for you tomorrow! :-)


PS...the Colts played at least a little better this week! Much better score than last week. Maybe there is hope?

Our Cozy Cabin

The beautiful lake