Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

I've been home since yesterday trying to help out with last minute wedding stuff...though I've felt pretty useless so far. I've run a few errands with my mom and sister and cooked dinner tonight, but that's all. I have a feeling tomorrow and Friday are going to be slam packed with running around. 

Tonight was a fun-filled, sugar-crazed kind of night! Mom, dad, Steven, and Caylee joined Meg, McKenzie and I for dinner before making a loop around the neighborhood with the neighbors. I've lovedddd getting pictures from friends of their kids in costume. Halloween is such a fun holiday!!

Here are my nieces and nephew, along with all five of Matt's!

And no, I have no idea why two of the pictures posted sideways...I'm about at my wits end with this iPad.

Race day

Sunday started off kind of rocky. I set my alarm for 6:30 so we could be out the door and on the way to the metro by 6:50 (race started at 7:55). Well, instead of walking to the metro station we had been using, Matt decided we would walk a few more blocks down...unfortunately the metro station his phone was leading us to was a metro bus stop...not the subway. Oops. So we had to hop on the bus to take us to the actual metro. When we got off on our stop we ended up having to walk forever to get to the start line. I was slightly flustered when I had to jump in with the LAST corral; we barely made it in time! Then the GPS on my watch didn't decide to start working until right before mile 3, so I had no idea how I was doing or when I needed to push myself. Matt jumped on the metro and waited at mile 19 for me before jumping back on the metro to meet me at the finish line. This race definitely wasn't as fun as Chicago was, but it was still a fun experience and I can't believe I had a decent time with as little training as I did. I finished in 4:45:15.

After the race we hopped on the metro (we were champs by the time we left town!) and headed to get some lunch and watch the Falcons game at a little brewery. Since we were so close, we went ahead and visited the natural history building of the Smithsonian. Then we walked to the zoo so I could see gorillas, but it was closed for "Boo at the Zoo"- bummer. Back to the hotel we went to rest up, shower, and grab one last dinner in D.C. We went to the same little BBQ joint we visited Friday evening because it was delicious! They have the best BBQ chicken nachos and mashed potatoes, plus a really delicious beer called the Matilda. Our bellies were so full we didn't even get dessert! 

We had a great time exploring and being with each other on our little road trip vacation!

Andddddd we purchased two new Christmas ornaments to add to our collection :)

Mile 19

A day of exploring

Saturday got off to a little later start than anticipated since we somehow slept in until 8:15! We were still up and out if the hotel by 9ish to catch the metro to get on our hop-on, hop-off trolley tour Matt had booked. The trolley tour ended up being such a good idea on his part; we were able to ride through awhile and then get off when we really wanted to see something. The buses ran about a half hour from each other so there was never much waiting.

We rode through the first 10 stops and got off at the Lincoln memorial, which was pretty amazing. Lincoln is huge! It's really cool how much thought goes into each monument and where it is displayed. While we were in the area we visited the Vietnam war memorial and the Korean war memorial. The Vietnam memorial was designed by a 21-yr old Yale student and she did a fantastic job. Each person is on the wall by date, with the beginning and the end of the war in the middle, not on the ends. The Korean war memorial is also awesome; the statues look like they're alive and they're reflected onto the wall. 

We hopped on another trolley that took us to Arlington where we visited the cemetery and watched the changing of the guards- such a peaceful, serene, and sad place. After Arlington we grabbed some lunch and waited for the next trolley to take us back over the bridge; then we walked...a lot. We went to the White House then up to the Washington monument to get a better look. After all that walking we grabbed dinner at the Hard Rock so I could get some pasta to carb up for Sunday's marathon. On the walk home we ran into Larry's ice cream and ate some delicious homemade ice cream. Matt apparently picked Bill Clinton's favorite- mud pie. After a little foot rub for each other we fell asleep to college football. 

Here's a lot of pictures...

Washington trip- Mount Vernon

We're back! We had a lot of fun in D.C. and I'm not too terribly sore from the marathon!

I figured I'd do recaps of our trip since we took over 200 pictures and crammed a lot of sightseeing in the few days we were there. 

Friday morning we left bright and early at 6am and dropped Macie off at the boys' office because Craig was taking her for the weekend. She is still exhausted from her weekend at the hunting club with her Uncle Craig and his lab, Jackson! Good for me since I have more packing to do :)

So, it took us around 8 hours to get to Mount Vernon Friday. We had to make multiple stops since I was trying to stay hydrated for the race Sunday :/ I learned a lot about Washington at Mount Vernon from both the tour guides and Matt, who loves history. We walked around for a few hours and took way more pictures than I intend on posting, but here are a few...and this stinking iPad won't let me put captions under all the pictures, but I'm sure you'll figure out what the pictures are of!

Recent purchases

Night shift stinks. My poor, poor body; I make it work 12 shifts in a row, then go back to working nights, and then I'm making it run a marathon in 4 days. I'm going to despise myself come Monday!

On a happy note, I'm a mere 6 1/2 hours from being free from work for 13 days! Wahoo!

Matt and I have a fun evening ahead of us too- I'm making dinner (he's had to eat fast food all week) and we're carving pumpkins, probably while watching a little Castle. I'm hoping to get up at a decent hour today so I'll have time to wash clothes, pack, run to the store, and do a few other last minute things. We're leaving bright and early at 6am(ish) Friday morning to get a good jump on traffic. That should get us into D.C. around 2 to squeeze in some exploring. We're on the lookout for a new Christmas ornament for our tree this year! I'm obsessed with getting ornaments everywhere we go, and thankfully Matt enjoys the hunt as much as I do now. 

Here is my most recent ornament purchase 

(and of course it'll be for Macie, not Sophie)

I love it! And I should be getting it soon, so I'll have a better picture.

And my other recent online purchase...

I think it's so stinking cute! And I bought Thanksgiving and football hangy things too. The only thing is that the arch isn't quite large enough to go around the knocker, so it's not centered...which really messes with my OCD tendencies. And my door is super dirty; oh the joys of apartment life ;)

Off to feed my babies!

Sunday recap

Yesterday was another fun and productive day! I had a decent nights sleep since I was in my own comfy bed, complete with sheets and a comforter. I slept at Matt's house Friday night since I was dog sitting for Scott and Megan and my oh-so-sweet boyfriend left for the weekend with his sheets packed up for the move, hence the reason I'm so thankful for sheets. Being the sweet girlfriend I am, I dug up his old, super soft sheets he had from Atlanta and made his bed for him so he'd have a clean bed to sleep in after a weekend of filth at the hunting club. 

I got up yesterday morning and did a quick 3 mile run before coming home and rushing to get ready so I could go let Cooper out and let he and Macie play for a bit before church. Church was good and we got out kind of early; plenty of time to do some Christmas shopping around Savannah. I finished up all the kids on Matt's side of the family since we're doing our gift exchange the day after Thanksgiving. I also got started on McKenzie and Cal since there's not a Toys R Us in Bluffton. I bought a laptop while I was out too, but buyers remorse set in on the drive home and never let up, so I packed it up and returned it this morning. I just didn't feel right buying a laptop I didn't need right before an out-of-state trip, Meagan's wedding, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. 

Maybe for my birthday...

After all the errand running I got a call from Matt saying he was coming home early! He was still 2 1/2 hours out, so I took the dogs on a walk and had a long ball throwing session with them.

Then Matt came home! I would've taken a picture of him, but he hadn't showered and looked quite disgusting. We played with Macie a bit and took her on another walk to try and tire her out so we could sleep well. 

We ordered some Mellow Mushroom pizza and attempted to watch a few Castle episodes. Matt passed out at approximately 7:40 pm. I finished two episodes before deciding a good, long slumber sounded wonderful. So, in bed with lights out at 8:55 was us. And I still did NOT want to get out of bed this morning! When I finally did, at 7 (watch out, I slept in!) I still wasn't ready to tackle the day. I've taken Macie on two walks, run a lot of errands, filled my tank with gas, but I've still yet to run. Hoping to get that done at 3 so I can shower and head off to work for the night. 

Leaving you with this picture my sister sent me last night...

Cheeseheads. 

Relaxing

It's been a pretty productive Saturday. I went to bed super early last night and slept not-so-hotly thanks to a bed with no sheets and a restless pup. I ended up having to kennel Macie around 5:30am to get some decent sleep. I finally gave up at 7 when I could hear Cooper huffing and puffing through the door crack and Macie giving obnoxiously loud sighs. 

Walking the dogs is quite the nice start to any day. Macie and I went home so I could change into some warmer running clothes and I tackled a little 5 mile run. There was an art festival going on in downtown Bluffton, and if I hadn't had so many items on my to-do list I would've browsed instead of running through. I'm hoping it'll still be going on tomorrow afternoon and Matt will be home early enough to see what it's all about! I ran some errands and finished my sisters wedding present while watching the gamecocks lose to the gators. Matt isn't pleased. 

Now Macie and I are about to do a little reading in bed. It's a happening Saturday night here for sure!

On an exciting note- look what came in the mail today!

I know I'm ahead of the game, but I didn't want to forget like I did last year. I can't wait for the holidays! Whenever I order stuff online I track the shipping process obsessively until my purchase is in my hands. I lovvveeee getting packages.

Except when I order two little mugs and it comes in this ridiculously large box; no wonder shipping cost more than the actual item! But I fell in love with these mugs and didn't care for once about S&H. They were originally supposed to be stocking stuffers, but they won't make it that long without being used!

Off to shower! I made today a no-makeup, no wash hair kind of day and I look horrific.