Angie Fenton

01/12/2025

A little help? Olive and I share a birthday. While she’ll celebrate hers with classmates and friends over the next few weeks, on the actual date, I’d like to get dressed up and go out to eat in Southern Indiana or the Louisville-area, something we haven’t done as a family since Easter 2024. Olive threw out a few options (including Chuck E. Cheese and Pizza King), but I want to go somewhere a little (a lot?) less casual, which she isn’t opposed to. A few barriers: We need to do either a late lunch or early dinner, our birthday is on a Monday, *and* it will be MLK Jr. Day. I will gladly take any suggestions or recommendations. We’re blanking on options even to look up to see if they’ll be open.

01/11/2025

What?!? Did anyone else just learn this was a thing? 💙🐾

01/10/2025

Prepping for the second round is a team sport. 💪🏽❄️🧤

01/08/2025

I love working with Olive. Extol Media – which is in our 10th year as a local company – is truly a family business. She's been a part of Extol in some way or another since she was born. But this interview...it makes me so proud of the human she is and is becoming. ❤

01/07/2025

We are now at the snowed in phase where, just this morning, Olive has performed the same 2 magic tricks 50 times, requested more information about how she was made, and invited me to play the (very literal) Hasbro game of Life so I could make something of myself. 😑 I’m going to have to work really hard to refrain from hugging the plow driver who gets us off our hill of a driveway when he arrives.

01/06/2025

I think this is Mother Nature's version of "But wait – there's more!" 😅

12/28/2024

If you saw my Dec. 13 post, you’ll know that Olive didn’t request a thing for herself when given the opportunity to talk with Santa. But, she did ask her mom and dad for a pink typewriter. She deserved that and so much more. 🫒 💚

12/27/2024

12/13/2024

Olive attended Light Up New Albany and had the chance to talk with Santa. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, my sweet girl told him she really wanted a pink typewriter but thought her parents might be taking care of that, so she had a little request instead: Instead of toys, she said, “Could you please help my Grammy and Mom instead? My Grammy has dementia and my mom has cancer.” 🥹

I was ill that night and wasn’t in attendance, although Olive’s dad shared the moment with me. A week later, I hosted the Indiana University Southeast Holiday Pops evening performance and was backstage when Santa joined me. We talked for a moment before it was our turn to take the stage, and I asked if he remembered a little girl at Light Up who’d made the request Olive had. Santa lit up and said yes! “That was my daughter, Santa,” I told him, willing the tears not to fall.

What I hadn’t known is that when Olive asked for this special gift, Santa shared that he had a little black book he always carried with him for requests like hers. In the book, he explained, he wrote down the names of the people and then, each night, he and his 5,829 elves would pray for each one by name.

I know my husband and I have worked hard to raise Olive right—even as we make mistakes along the way—but I am so grateful for the many people in our lives who pour into her, too. Every drop counts, whether it’s prayers and good thoughts from afar, time spent with a little girl who has faced so much over the past year, or even a brief interaction with Santa, whose kindness won’t ever be forgotten. 🎅🏻♥️

12/03/2024

💙💙💙

It's Giving Tuesday, and we humbly ask for your support:
💙 We could use donations of TURKEYS and HAMS for families in need this season.
💙 Our supply of SPACE HEATERS is extremely low. We would be grateful for donations as the need continues to grow.
💙 We are in need of DIAPERS, especially sizes 3, 4, and 5.
💙 Drop-offs can occur 9 AM to 5:30 PM Mondays and 9 AM to 3 PM Tuesday-Friday at Hope, 1200 Bono Road in New Albany.
💙 Over the past several months, we have served far more people than ever before through our Emergency Services program. This has enabled us to keep families off the streets, help open doors to employment and housing for others, and provide a hand up to so many. If you feel compelled to give today – or any day – monetary donations of all sizes to support our Emergency Services are greatly appreciated. Visit hopesi.org/donate and choose Area of Greatest Need or Emergency Services to help us continue to lift others.

11/27/2024

UPDATE: ADOPTED!

We are seeking the owners of this lost dog, found within the city limits of New Albany, IN and currently being held at the New Albany Animal Shelter.

11/22/2024

💙💙💙

DONATIONS NEEDED | Do you have reusable bags you’re willing to part with? We need a TON and would be grateful for all bag donations, whether 1 or 100 — or any number in between. We also appreciate you sharing this post and helping us fulfill this need.💙

Drop offs can be made at Hope, 1200 Bono Road in New Albany on the following days:
Monday • 9 AM to 5:30 PM
Tuesday-Friday • 9 AM to 3 PM

09/25/2024

I’ve taken to describing treatment days with a smile and the explanation that “I get to enjoy the services of the Baptist Health Floyd Cancer Center.” 😁 It has a much nicer ring to it than anything else I’ve come up with. Plus, it helps to keep my headspace positive. Aside from working to keep any sneaky anxiety at bay, I mostly work hard to make those mornings fun for Olive. She’s an empathetic soul, so that’s imperative — and has become easy/easier:
We pray and eat breakfast together just like we do every day.
We take care of our menagerie of pets together…just like we do every day.
I set out her uniform, and she emerges with a twist of her own: a different sweater or socks or shoes (the “Olive addition” always makes me smile).
We sing and dance in the car on the way to school. Just like we do every day.
But on this day, I take a dirt side street that’s known for its massive puddles after a good rain and nailed — I mean NAILED — each one so that a torrent of water splashed upwards like waves on her side of the car. 1. 2. 3. And her torrent of giggles from the backseat lift us both. 🌊
Happy and smiling, she bounced out of the car and into school with a “Bye, Mama! I love you! Have a good day at treatment!” And I did. 💙
One day soon, I have faith that we’re going to look back on this year and be able to say, “Look what we did — together.”

09/12/2024

I’ve been serving as the acting executive director of Hope Southern Indiana since July 1 and know, firsthand, the impact the nonprofit has on the Southern Indiana community. Last month alone, we provided more than $129,000 in food; we offer emergency services Monday through Friday to assist in myriad ways; and Hope works to assist clients on their paths to achieve self sufficiency. Additionally, we love providing community programs like Clothe A Teen, Spirit of the Season, and more.

If you’re seeking a nonprofit to benefit today, please consider Hope.

🔗 https://mtyc.co/he7ihg

08/29/2024

Looking for something to do on this (hot!) Labor Day weekend? Check out why you should consider New Albany's River Run. Plus, we check in with Ready Set Prep'd Chef-Owner Peggy, and we make a few furry friends, too.

River Run is open 11 AM to 4 PM Thursday and Friday (Steamboat Pool Open Only) and 11 AM to 7 PM Saturday and Sunday, the park's final day for the season.

River Run Family Waterpark is located at 224 W. Daisy Lane in New Albany.

08/27/2024

Hope Southern Indiana could use your bags. 💙

🗣️ WE NEED BAGS! Do you have plastic bags you want to get rid of? We’ll gladly take them for use by those who utilize our Food Pantry. Drop offs at Hope are appreciated during our hours below. 💙

🕰️ 9 AM to 5:30 PM | Monday
🕰️ 9 AM to 3 PM | Tuesday-Friday
📍 1200 Bono Road | New Albany

📸 Photo of some of our youngest volunteers who helped to sort and flatten the last of our bag stash. Please help us put them back to work — they are such great helpers! — and donate your plastic bags. 💙

08/25/2024

What an experience last night at Lynn Family Stadium, where Racing Louisville beat Chicago 3-1 — and the Racing Louisville Academy U9 Girls got to play on the field at halftime. Olive and her teammates split up into teams for a couple of intersquad mini friendly matches in front of 6,000+ Racing fans. Thank you, Racing Louisville FC, for a memorable, magical night! ⚽️🥅🏟️

08/22/2024

On today's episode of "This is SoIN," we make a splash in New Albany and enjoy some time with a few four-legged friends. Plus, we pop into one of our favorite eateries.

NOTE: Interested in visiting River Run Family Water Park? It's open through September 1. Visit nariverrun.com for hours and more details.