Kevin and I recently went on a trip to Virginia Beach to see my sister, Maggie and her boyfriend Trey, who is living there working a campaign. Can I just say that I am IN LOVE with that place?! Trey lives 2 blocks away from the beach that features the longest boardwalk in the world. It was hot, but the sun was beautiful, the sand was incredible soft and the waves were the perfect size for me to have fun but not freak out. Ok, not totally freak out...have I mentioned that the ocean scares me? Yeah, I'm a baby. Anyways, we spent the vacation walking the boardwalk, at the beach, eating amazing food (benefit of knowing someone who lives there!), playing putt-putt, going to a baseball game, going kayaking and going to do the naval base tour (largest naval base in the world!). The night life is so fun. There are street vendors and performers all along the boardwalk and along Atlantic Ave, the street right behind the boardwalk. Everything from guys doing crazy paintings with spray paint to a full-on street marching band who plays pop hits, dances around and has crazy colored instruments like blue trombones.
Old Time Photos!
My good lookin' hubs on the USS Wisconsion
And the both of us.
Biking on the boardwalk. Pure happiness.
It was the absolute perfect beach vacation. 5 days was not enough but we enjoyed every second of it. We were sad to leave my sister and Trey, since we don't get to see them enough with their crazy work schedules and living on the East coast, but we got to see them the following weekend at my only girl cousin Carla's wedding.
Carla was a beautiful bride. The ceremony was perfect, completely reflecting the couple. Maggie and I each did a reading and did pretty well except for my high heels that decided to make a horrendous sound on the floor of the church every time I stepped. So embarassing. Anyways, the dinner was awesome. Comfort food, almost like Thanksgiving. Ham, chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing, coleslaw.....mmmmmm I devoured about three portions (more than my husband...oops!). The night was followed by an awesome photo booth, lots of dancing including an amazing tribute to "red solo cup", and family and friends. I love seeing that side of the family. They are crazy, wild, and so much fun. Unfortunately I had a killer headache the entire day and night so was battling that, but I wasn't going to let it ruin my time on Carla's big day. Now the only girl left in our little family of girl cousin's to get married is Maggie, and she caught the bouquet!! Sorry Mags, had to add that!
Beautiful Bride!
Photo Booth! So fun!
Anyways, BIG life updates to come very soon, I promise! The reason for this post is actually to type up my "to do" list for this fall, which includes fun things that I hope to do before good ol' winter hits. So, here goes...
Go to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch :First orchard done 9/22/12- Take at least one long scenic leaf drive
- Carve pumpkins with pumpkins we got from the pumpkin patch
- Make apple pie with apples from the orchard
- Decorate the house for
falldone 9/18/12/Halloween/Thanksgiving Buy pumpkin spice chai tea for my chai tea lattes....yummmmm!Couldn't find pumpkin spice, but bought decaf (preggers) chai tea for my lattes!- Buy more chunky sweaters/sweater dresses
- Set up my sewing station downstairs and start to sew scarves
- Take a crochetting/knitting class
- Make caramel apples with apples from the orchard
- Watch Hocus Pocus as Halloween approaches
- Take Diesel hiking at Taylors Falls at least once
- Make chili for a football game
- Watch every Packer game, even if I have to go somewhere out of my house (unfortunately this happens a lot in MN...grrr)
- Bake apple crisp with orchard apples for Kev (it's one of his favorite desserts)
- Bake banana bread, cookies or another type of sweet for the firefighters at the station down the street from our house
Go the the MN State Fairdone 8/26/12- Go to the MN Renaissance Festival (neither Kev or I have ever been)
- Do the DIY Autumn blocks project I saw on Pinterest:
- Dress up for Halloween
Finally, Five Cheers for Friday:
1. Kev and I had a fun date night that included going out for some pretty awesome pizza and heading to the theater to see "The Campaign". The movie wasn't quite as funny as we thought it would be, but the actors were great in their characters and there were several very funny parts. I would recommend seeing it!
2. Paying off my credit card. I try not to use my credit card too much, or have too high of a balance (we are talking under $1,000 and usually under $500). This is mostly because having a balance on my credit card gives me anxiety. It makes me feel uneasy, like there are loose ends I'm not tying up, and I hate having the balance looming over my head, even if it is not a large amount. So, paying it off definitely felt good!
3. The cooler weather we had this week. Kevin and I had the air turned off and the windows open and it felt fantastic to be able to go outside without immediately sweating. I am definitely looking forward to fall and sweatshirt weather! The cooler weather also makes work much more comfortable for Kevin, who works at the dealership in the hot shop all day. Unfortunately, it's going to get hot again this coming week, but I will try to enjoy it while it lasts, before it gets TOO cold, because that will happen soon enough.
4. I had my first attempt at making my Momma's delish homemade tomato soup. It wasn't quite as good as my mom makes it (she's a pro, at this point), but it did turn out pretty well and Kevin really enjoyed it, especially paired with grilled cheese and his cheddar penguin crackers. Yummy!
5. Looking forward to great plans for the weekend. These include dinner plans with a good friend tonight, the State Fair tomorrow (checking things off my list!) with Kev and my parents, and a day on Sunday for the hubs and I to run some errands and just hang out together. By the way, my must-have food at the state fair is the cheese curds. My stomach is growling just thinking about them. Kevin's must-have food is his beloved Pronto Pup (for those of you not familiar with MN fair food, it's a giant corn dog).
Xoxo
Dory
