february

So it is February 10th already?! Time is just flying by. And while I haven't been super busy, I've been enjoying myself. 

So most of my weekends involve heading over the the bf's on Friday after work, where we just relax and hang out and often go to bed early. Saturday we usually are doing something - I like to have something fun to look forward to. On Sunday we go out to the house to see the progress in the morning, then end up doing something or just relaxing before heading back to my place Sunday evening. It has been a nice little routine since December. I can't wait though for when I'm not packing my tote bag for the weekend!  So let's start with the more recent stuff and work out way back. 

House pictures from Sunday! Cabinets are installed, we are painted and all the trim is done. It is really starting to look like a home. They were doing the siding on Sunday when we were there. I love going out on Sunday to see the work that was done the week prior. The hardwoods and counters should be going in this week! 

Family room, kitchen and entry from sunroom

Siding is going up!

 Saturday we were up in Pennsylvania for the Great American Outdoors show. It was pretty cool to see all the different outdoor vendors and we spent some time in the firearms part and ran into a few of Chance's friends working. But the cool part was the Brantley Gilbert concert. Saturday night NRA Country put on a concert - there are a bunch of country artists who are with NRA Country. And we saw Cheryl LuQuire, Nate Hosie and Brantley Gilbert. It was a great concert! We were right up there in the VIP section. 

The week was pretty busy - Thursday night I had Zeta and on Wednesday met up with my friend Amy for dinner. Last Sunday I also had a few friends over for the Super Bowl which was a fun night despite the boring game...

Last Saturday Chance and I went to Manassas Battlefield. I am SO excited to be living down the road from here and will be driving through it all the time. 

Stone House from the Battlefield. 

I love this shot of the Stonewall Jackson statue with the farm in the background on the battlefield. 

The week prior I was a busy girl - I attempted to country line dane with some friends. Let's just say it was pretty funny! I was super impressed with the good people! Also hung out with friends a few times which was fun. 

Chance and I celebrated our year anniversary at the end of January. We just went out to dinner and exchanged gifts this week. I got him 2 cast iron pans he wanted- the boy loves his bacon. And he got me a heated blanket - which I'm curled up in right now. I think it might be the best invention ever.

And I'm currently watching the Olympics - but I'm just not that into it. I'm watching for the skiing - though I know the results. It is the first thing I do in the morning - check the skiing to see how the Americans do.  But I just love watching it - and I have a few other times this year. But I'm just not into all the other events. Oh well!

Hope you have  a great week!

january

January has been a pretty quiet month. Not much going on, which I'm ok with. It has been nice to just relax. I've hung out with friends a few times and the boy and I have gone out to the house a few times. But for the most part our weekends have been really low key. The weather has been pretty weird here - it was SO cold a few weeks ago and then gorgeous this weekend and today the DC area is in the middle of about 6 inches of snow! But with the holiday yesterday we both had a day off - so after going to check out the house we went hiking. We just went and did a quick local hike at Chapman's Mill. It is a pretty easy hike about 7 miles round trip. But it has gorgeous views of the mountains in the distance.  

It was so nice yesterday - but pretty chilly and windy at the top. Graham came with us and once we got to the top we had a nice picnic lunch complete with hot tea & coffee! Which was great since it was windy! 

Pretty views of Virginia

Enjoying the view from the top

And today I had off from work - was able to do some work from home. But it was nice to be able to sit on the couch in yoga pants and watch the snow fall.

It was crazy that this was all going on a year ago. A crazy few days, but so much fun!

2013

So 2013. An amazing year for me. I had a few awesome opportunities professionally that challenged me. I fell in love. Had a few awesome adventures. Traveled. Went to 29 new National Parks. Enjoyed life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 To capture the essence of 2013 I've picked a few of my favorite photos from 2013 to illustrate my year. So here we go:

January: one word INAUGURATION. That's what January was to me. Prepping for the biggest thing in my professional career so far! And a few days after I agreed to go on a date with a boy and that date has changed everything.

Roomie & I on inauguration morning

Speaking to approx 1500 HS students

February: A busyish month with not a lot of pictures. A training for work and then a week in Indy. Lots of date nights and dinners with friends! 

 

Channeling my inner Leslie Knope in Indy

My loves!

March: TRAVEL - I was home for 5 days all month. And 3 of those days were spent with Chance skiing. I was working in Columbus, Westchester, Albany & Orlando. It was a crazy month. A lot of National Parks visited!

World's largest basket in Ohio

airport fun

One of many National Parks visited in March

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in NYC with Meg & Suz. I've known them both since elementary school!

 April: Still some travels. A conference in Columbia, SC plus a few needed days in Charleston seeing Amy and enjoying all my favorite places! Went home to say goodbye to the house I grew up in as my parents were moving. Went backpacking with the boy and his friends!

Charleston

backpacking in GW & Jefferson National Forest

home

May: Fun travel! And enjoying not working 24/7! Went to Cali for Mary's wedding! Lots of adventure on that trip! Charleston for Amy's grad school graduation! A fun bachelorette in Chestertown! Seeing friends and enjoying spring! 

Cabrillo National Historic Site

Congrats Mary!

Congrats Amy!

Chestertown fun!

 June: starting to pick up again before traveling for 6 weeks. A fun hike at Harper's Ferry with Chance. The little brother graduating from high school! And starting 3 weeks in Colorado for a conference!

Harper's Ferry from the hike

family

enjoying an afternoon off at one of my favorite places in Boulder while in Colorado! 

 July: work, work, work. Was in Colorado, NJ & North Carolina for the month working conferences. At times extremely challenging but it was a big learning experience for me. And I turned 28!

happy birthday America from Colorado

a quiet moment in NC

happy birthday! my staff made me a birthday fort!

 August: So apparently I didn't do much in August. After the 6 weeks I was gone I just wanted to relax! Though Chance met my parents!

one of the few things I did in August

September: a busy month - but lots of fun! A crew reunion for Megan's wedding. Chance and I went camping on Assateague for a few days, Suz came to see me and we played in DC and I went home to see my parents. 

Crew ladies! 

all of the ponies! 

Suz and I visiting TJ

Momma and I at Sandy Hook

Probably my favorite picture all year at Gettysburg!

October: The highlight was running 200 miles through Tennessee with an amazing team! Ragnar was one of the coolest things I've ever done! A panda-cam Halloween and  a super wet weekend camping!

George's Girls! After 200 miles through Tennessee in 29 hours! 

Halloween fun! 

November: Helped Gamma Beta celebrate 75 years of sisterhood and said goodbye to my grandfather who passed away at 84.

My chapter's chain in the ZTA chain of chapters - we are the 75th link! 

December: Lots of baking, celebrating Christmas, National Parking and ending 2013 with Chance. 

O Christmas Tree

Happy New Year

the house - as of the end of December

A day of National Parks fun

So 2013 was pretty awesome. Travel wise I went to 16 states. No new ones in 2013. I did go to 29 new National Parks and around 58 National Parks this year.  I can't wait for my 2014 adventures! I just hope 2014 is as good as 2013!

2014 goals

Happy 2014! I can't believe how fast 2013 went -- and for me 2013 was a pretty amazing year! A lot of growth, love and positives. There were a few challenges but overall I couldn't have asked for anything better!

My 2013 goals were ehhhhh this year. While I didn't travel as much as I wanted to fun places - I did travel a lot this year and was able to accomplish a lot. So here is the update on the goals.

2013 goals...
-go to 2 new states:  no new states in 2013 - which is shocking for me! But I did go to 16 states this year. Pretty much just stayed on the East Coast this year. 
-use my passport in 2013:  nope - sadly no international fun. I broke my every 2 year international streak. Hopefully some international adventure in 2014!
-read 100 books: a little short this year. I haven't finished compiling my list but I'm somewhere in the 60s this year. 
-lower my credit card debt & save $1000: I'm slowly chipping away at the Credit Card debt and have just over $1000 in my savings account. 
-run 2 half marathons:  Didn't run 2 halfs - but I did run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, the Navy AirForce 5 miler and the Ragnar Relay in Tennessee! 
-finish first 3 years of college scrapbook: nope. not even close. 
-send more cards & letters to friends: Yes - I love sending cards and notes to friends!
-go to 20 national park sites: Managed to get to 29 new National Parks this year! And 52 total for 2013! 
-go to a winery: Went to Breaux Vineyard just down the road in Virginia!
-read 10 presidential bios: I read 2 presidential bios - but I just got 3 new ones for Christmas this year! 
-bake 5 new desserts: I was a desert baking machine the last few weeks. For new deserts I made Pumpkin Spice Cookies, Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes, Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes, Peppermint Cookies, Snickerdoodles. 
-100 blog posts: I'm lucky if I get 2 posts a month...
-enjoy life & have fun! : Check!



2013 was a big year for me with work and relationships. January was the start of an amazing year. And it has only gotten better! 2014 has big shoes to fill and I am excited for the opportunities and challenges that the year will present. 

So my goals for 2014!
Travel 
Read 75 books
Lower my CC debt and save $2000
20 new National Parks
Make a bookshelf
DAR application and genealogy
Run in 3 races
3 years of college scrapbook 
A promotion at work
Enjoy life and keep positive


So trying to keep it simple for 2014 - there are a lot of big things happening and I don't want to pigeonhole myself into things I can't do. So a little more open in my goals but staying in the travel, reading, saving and just making the best of everything I do!


What are your goals of 2014? I'm working on the 2013 in review - it was a BUSY year!

getting in the holiday spirit!

So the last few weeks have been fun, not super busy but enough going on. I've had fun decorating my apartment and hanging out with friends. 

I watched the holiday (and had some football on) whole writing my Christmas cards!

Here is my tree - it is cute and the first time I've put my ornaments on a tree not at my parents house!

So the boy had his work Christmas party and he made a Mexmas hat - since the food was all Mexican. He took a sombrero and turned it into a Christmas tree. It was pretty funny and it turns out he is pretty crafty. It made me laugh when before going over one day he was like bring your hot glue gun...

We had a decorating contest at work and I kept mine pretty simple - my coworkers made almost forts out of theirs! I had a little tree and some garland, plus enjoyed making snowflakes! We also had a gingerbread contest. It had to be DC themed and when our plan to make the Washington Monument failed - we went with the Pentagon.


And my friend Susan had the fun idea to do Elf on the Shelf at work with one of our co-workers. It was funny each day to plan different letters and put Jerry in different fun thing. Here was one of the last ones we did! Shane had to create him an ugly sweater for our work Christmas party!

And since I'm going to NJ tomorrow and the boy is headed home to Texas we did Christmas on Thursday.  We cooked a nice breakfast and opened presents. It was fun surprising each other because we each had NO idea what we got each other. I got him a cutting board in the shape of Texas - and I full well know that that will be prominently displayed in our new house. And he loved the wine charms I made him too. He got me this statue of George Washington - which is awesome! And then diamond earrings. I had lost my everyday earrings a few weeks ago and he noticed I wasn't wearing any and so he got me some. It was SO surprised! 

Later that afternoon since it was gorgeous we went to Great Falls and walked around a bit and just took in the 60 degree December weather.  And then we went to check on the progress of the house. I have a feeling the next time I see it there will be walls up! 

Just as gorgeous in winter as the rest of the year!

Looks like we have some walls! 

The basement - the concrete has been poured! Next up -- walls and the roof!

And to add to my holiday baking - I made these Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint cookies - they came out awesome. The only thing I wish I had was the holiday Oreos, I just used regular ones. But still delish! 

So I'm just finishing packing - and I'm off to a holiday party tonight and excited to see a few friends and then tomorrow I'm driving to NJ where I will be until Saturday.

Merry Christmas!