phugs.

 It all started as a joke.  We told Mitchell (a.k.a. SpringHill Boy) that we would run ten miles with him (because that's what he does everyday).  Even though we were sure we could do that no problem, we "weren't really in the mood." So we biked instead. Normal people would get on their bikes and go, but at the Mender house, the only bikes available were BMX bikes- you know...those little bikes with super low seats (making it impossible to sit while riding) and no brakes? So we took the challenge.  While we did come back in one piece, it was a close call.  Sliding off the edge of the sidewalk, Allie took a tumble in a field of weeds without Becky or Mitchell even noticing as they carried on ahead.  Her wounds were minimal in comparison to what would come for Becky.  Without a prayer for stopping or even slowing down (because of the whole brake thing) as we approached the same sidewalk entrance, Becky was forced to take the curb because of oncoming traffic on Hart Street.  Catapulting forward over the handlebars in what seemed like slow motion, her body hit the pavement with a splat. The bike followed in similar motion coming to rest on top of her with force.  Mitchell's reaction: immediately coming to her side to see if she was okay.  Allie's reaction: swiping the camera from Becky's back pocket in uncontrollable laughter making her stay in that tangled position until the moment was captured.  From that moment on, Mitchell was pretty worried about letting us get too close to the road.

We went back to visit the scenes of the accidents in the day light.  

Inspired by our late night bike ride, we decided to give it another chance using real bikes from the Vanderzee house.  Besides the bugs splattered in our hair and on our sunglasses, the ten mile ride to the Gates and back was a success.

#15 & #38

The lights dim.  The crowd dynamic changes from small talk to thousands of tween girls screeching at the top of their lungs.  Fog and flashing lights fill the stage.  Rising from below the stage, his back facing the crowd, the one-and-only dressed in bright colors with coordinating high-tops belts out the first note sending the entire building to their feet. Experiencing this rush more than once, we were captivated by his tale as featured in his very own motion picture. Seeing the movie and knowing his story reignited our flame for Justin Bieber.  We never thought we'd be the girls obsessed with this teenie bopper star but...

Never. Say. Never.

 

We hear time and time again from Sara and Kate how we are them ten years later: best friends who do incredibly crazy and fun things together all the time.  We decided to have a best friend double date and make a movie night out of it.  While we were together, Kate wanted to knock something else off the bucket list: frozen margaritas (virgin of course).

And, of course, we couldn't watch J.Biebz perform without getting up to sing and dance along. (and who knows why Sara is hiding behind that ottoman?)

phugs.

3 times in 1 week to a place 45 minutes away may seem excessive...but not when love is involved.  No, we are not talking about our love for candy, but more the "eye candy" found at our favorite "local" candy factory:  Albanese.  Besides journeying through Dyer, Schererville, St. John, and Merrillville for chocolate covered gummy bears, peach rings, those wax things, and naked turtles, we go for our friends behind the counter.  There's Alex and Mikey, who smile when they see us walk in the door, and the dark haired boy who laughs at our conversations while sweeping around us, but we don't go for them.  What keeps us coming time and time again is our mystery boy.  Though we have encountered him multiple times and he is always eager to wait on us, we had not built up the gusto to find out his name.  And now, the gusto has been built, and he hasn't worked the past three times we have gone.  Talk about an epic fail.  Guess we'll be back. 

You know when you are at a red light, and you look to your right only to be embarrassed for the people next to you, way too involved in the music they are listening to, screaming the lyrics and dancing in the car?  That's us. 

As if our day didn't have enough action, we continued our journey after leaving Albanese, heading back through Merrillville, St. John, Schererville, and Dyer, making our way all the way to Lansing where we had located with much anticipation a hidden location of our beloved pizzeria.  Years ago it was a tradition to pig out with our small group leader at the Bellacino's in Dyer until the day tragedy struck and it closed.  We thought we'd never eat our sacred dough knots again until a google search caused us to stumble upon a location we never knew existed!  It was pure bliss until we took our first sip of water.  Call us crazy, but the water cups sent a wave of electricity jolting through our bodies every time our lips ventured toward the luke warm water. 

Becky:  "I love running past those things."
Allie:  "What? I've never even heard of that."
Becky:  "Are you kidding me?!?!  It's SO fun!"
Allie:  "Then let's do it."
Becky:  [quickly swerves into the right lane, makes an illegal U-turn, and parks the car]

It was a tie. 

phugs.

As photographers, when you've been waiting 45 minutes for a client to show up, what can you do? Get sassy.

 

An attempt turned phugs.

Mosquitoes. And lots of them.  In an effort to do something fun on Allie's birthday, we picked an item on the bucket list that seemed adventurous and headed straight for the house pictured below. We can't tell you much because after failing epically that night we are even more determined to find a way to complete the task.

Fast forward 45 minutes to 1:22 a.m. when we decided that we needed a new plan.  Covered in mosquito bites, sporting our finest boxers, we decided to be "those people." You know, the ones in Walmart way past their bedtime for reasons even they couldn't explain.  With a 20 pack of Crayola sidewalk chalk in our bag, we departed and headed to the home of our next victim.

The idea started as a mural-the story of two superhero best friends ready to save the world in style.  We traced our bodies in the center of the driveway to be the stars of the tale, and quicly realized that we should set up a crime scene instead.  Twenty pieces of chalk gave us a potential twenty bodies strewn across the black top.  So, we got to work.

 

We left our signature so there wouldn't be any confusion.

Finishing our work of art at 3:34 a.m. we finally headed home, showering for the second time that night to remove the chalk evidence from our clothes, hair, legs, hands, and chins and tending to our mosquito wounds the size of golf balls.

While we are on the category of phugs, we're sure you are dying to know about another one of our exciting adventures: we went to the beach.

Phugs #3 for this post: big kids play with baby toys too.

p.s. it took us a good 25 minutes to get those blocks to stay in our eyes at the same time long enough for a picture.

#1

Our new home: