pre-drive trail run

Dave and I got on the road early yesterday morning, anticipating a stop at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, VA.  We wanted to get some exploring and a trail run in before the long drive home.  The park itself was about an hour from my parents' place and on our drive home, so it worked out really well!

We were greeted in the parking lot by a cat.  Dave was thrilled.

We first ran down to the bottom of the gorge, where a natural tunnel had been carved in the rock by the wind/nature.  Lucky for us a train came through right then, too!

The tunnel is at the bottom of a cliff called Lover's Leap, named after two Indians of warring tribes who fell in love, then tossed themselves over the side since they couldn't be together.

That's a pretty sucky way to die.

We ran a little further and found an old cabin, so we went inside.  It was crazy dark so we couldn't really see anything.  Still, proof we were there:

We hiked back up and then ran around the rim of the gorge, going about 4 miles and seeing four deer!  We got great views of the gorge and the tunnel, plus all the mountains and trees!

 Sweaty and tired (we're so unaccustomed to hills!) we got back in the car and began the long trek home.

After a short stop at Kroger, numerous bathroom breaks, and nothing else much eventful, we made it home!

Unfortunately, it's right back in the car for me this morning.  I'm headed back down to work.  So not excited to be in the car again!

last night in TN

Last night we went out in my parents' boat for a ride around a lake surrounded by national forest.

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 

 

Check back at lunch today - it's a recipe you don't want to miss!

bluegrass festival

We managed to complete our festival experience with a giant funnel cake, split between Dave, Jill, and I.  I would have taken a picture... but it was gone in about 18 seconds.  I can't remember the last time I had a funnel cake.  Hot, fluffy, and completely blanketed in powdered sugar.  We did get a picture of the three of us watching a band (albeit a grainy/dark one!).

The last band we saw was amazing.  Dave and I completely fell in love with them: 18 South.  Check them out here.  I recommend listening to Late Night Ramble.  You know a group is really good when they almost sound better live than they do recorded.  And they sound really good recorded!

Today's events are mostly yet-to-be-planned.  We'll see how things shape up...

ikea in numbers

We made it.

Number of ice cream cones from IKEA bistro: 2

Number of ice cream cones I actually wanted: hundreds.  Best soft serve ice cream ever.

Number of people who gave me dirty looks while I waited in line with all my dollys and carts: 7

(I'm way back there giving a thumbs up.)

Number of minutes Dave spent in a bathroom stall using the random wall outlet to charge his phone so we could check on the availability of two furniture covers online: 10 


Number of new sitting options we'll have in our house: 4 (2 couches, 1 chair, 1 loveseat)

Number of IKEA workers who didn't think we'd get it all in our truck: numerous

Number of awesome brother-in-laws who did indeed get it all in, and safely: 1

Number of hours from departure to final arrival at our house: 16

Number of naps happening this afternoon: 3 (Mosie, too!)

sweet baby Mylin

Last night I headed to Bluffton, Indiana, to stay the night with my friend, Rachel, and her sweet little girl, Mylin.  You may remember I met Mylin when she was two days old, while Dave and I were in Fort Wayne for his racquetball tourney.

Mylin has definitely gotten bigger!  I love fat baby cheeks!

Rachel and I had a wonderful time catching up and talking while we hung out with Mylin.  I loved having her hot little body in my arms!

Mylin and I even wore matching giraffe pajamas.

She wasn't very interested in taking this picture.  She really just wanted a bedtime snack.

I'm so grateful for Rachel, one of my closest friends for 8 years now.  I love seeing her with Mylin!  (Joel, sorry I missed you this trip!  Next time!)

Christmas come early

Marathon shirts are here!!

The people at running chics SO generously threw in a couple extra things for Kel and I for our marathon!  The tshirts are adorable (there's even a little running chics logo detail at the bottom hem on the back of the shirt).  They fit great and are crazy soft.  It's probably going to take convincing to get me out of these shirts for running or hanging out.  So so so comfy.  I'll wear one on my run tomorrow and let you know how it wears for running, too.  And I'll give the headband a try - goodness knows I have issues getting headbands to stay on my head, so it'll be a true test!

A couple pictures from Canada - although these are kind of lame since they're only the car trip there.  Once in Canada I left my camera in our room the entire time while we played and hung out.  Whoops!

Our drive there involved - of course - frozen yogurt with reese's pb cups.

Waiting to cross the bridge to Canada... (45 minute wait on the way into Canada.  90 minute wait on the way back to the USA.  Not fun.)

International travelers.

The gorgeousness we were surrounded by for the weekend.  We loooooved running out on these rolling country roads!

It was a fantastic weekend - a giant group run, lots of kids darting around, some singing and music, rock climbing, s'mores, playing games, kick boxing, awesome food, porch reading time, and talking.  This was my first time meeting a lot of Dave's extended family and it was just so fun.  I felt right at home - like it was "our" family, not "his" family.  I love that.

Don't forget to vote today/tonight!

Do you have family reunions?  Do you enjoy them?

iowa!

We just got home a little bit ago, happy to be out of the car.  Dave and Mosie are already playing together and we're getting ready for bed soon!  But first, a few pictures from our trip, with some words in between.

Me and my new BFF, Abby.  Cuddly, funny little girls are the best.

 The most amazing bulk Amish food store - this is my heaven.

Millet for $.75, cracked wheat for $.75, tons of steel cut oats for cheap, yeast, corn flaxseed chips, and the most amazing sweet/salty trail mix (it was demolished somewhere in the middle of Illinois).

But Amish stores demand modesty (we thought this sign was pretty funny).

 The cheese factory where we sampled tons and tons of cheese and watched the making of cheese curds.

 And ate cheese curds.

A delicious Amish bakery with the best doughnuts Dave has ever had (yes, even better than hot Krispy Kreme!)

We hung out with the cutest, best behaved kids, and their two crazy, hilarious, smart, and sweet parents.

 We saw the future home of Captain Kirk in Riverside, IA.

Basically, we adored our time with our friends and maybe fell just a little bit in love with Iowa.

Those pictures can't even capture the sky, the fields, the hills, the beauty.  And I didn't even mention the cute cats, the morning run with Julie and Melissa, the table ping pong, or the delicious pesto pasta or chicken coconut curry!

girls' weekend

Girls' weekend officially kicked off on Friday at 4, when we all arrived at Kel's house in Meadville, PA.  We unloaded our cars and hung out for a bit before jumping back in the car and heading south to Slippery Rock for dinner.  We met up with my friends Peter and Bec at the North Country Brewery for dinner.

The food was just as good as the company!  Kel and I split the falafel and the black bean burger, with sweet potato chips and hand-cut fries.  They were both really messy but really good.  The chili sauce on the black bean burger proved to be a little too much for me and I wasn't able to completely finish it.  We also split a hummus platter.  While we ate Lizzie poached food from Bec.

Little baby bird.  And Clare got boozy with the jug of beer.

Then it was home again!  Saturday morning Kel and I went for a hilly run - normal for her, but hill-tastic for me!  When we got home Kel's husband, Keegan, made us all breakfast - sweet potato whole wheat gnocchi, eggs (from the chickens in the backyard!), and zucchini, turnips, carrots, and onion sauteed.  It was amazing.

Saturday we walked downtown to the farmer's market, then came home for a lunch of snacks, then drove to Campbell's Pottery to look around.  We stopped and got ice cream, hung out at Keegan's parents' for awhile (Lizzie made fast friends with Kayden, age 4), and then came home and had pesto pasta with veggies and lemon sorbet.  Again: amazing.  Oh, and entertained ourselves watching these two cuties:

Happy girls all around.  Sunday morning Corrine, Lizzie, Clare, and mom took off for Cleveland.  I had scrambled pesto eggs and veggies (one more time: amazing) and Kel and I talked and drank coffee on the back porch.  Then Kel made me a giant paper bag of popcorn and I packed up my car and headed home.  It was a long drive but a few notable things happened:

1. I finally finished Lord of the Rings.  It was good, but didn't blow me away.  I was mostly just grateful to be done with it, honestly.  
2. I finally met my match in popcorn.  The paper bag proved too large for even me and I actually threw some away.  Shocking, I know.
3. I had the best sandwich ever: pesto and asiago cheese on fresh sourdough bread.  Oh oh oh.

The only regret of this weekend?  Just like last year we forgot to take a picture all together!  I'm so happy we started this girls' weekend tradition.  I just hope next year Jilly can come again so we'll truly all be together!  Last year girls' weekend was in South Carolina and this year Pennsylvania.  Maybe Tennessee next year?