Fall: Perfect for camping and football!

The last 2 weekends have been great! First I went camping with Julie and family up in PA - not far from Gettysburg. It was great fun! The days were perfect; in the 70s, clear and sunny. The night that I stayed it was pretty cold, but not miserable. It was fun to explore with the kids in the woods and along the creek, build campfires and play games. I hadn't seen Julie and family in a while, so it was really fun to see them again.

This past week I purchased a new road bike. I was really excited to ride, but I already had plans to head down to Charlottesville to attend the UVA vs UNC football game. It seemed that a weekend ride would most likely not happen. I invited my friend Dave to go to the game with me, and then I had the brilliant idea to take our bikes with us! We got to Charlottesville late Saturday morning, rode our bikes around for a couple of hours, then got ready to go to the game. I love my bike! It makes me excited to go on a real ride. The football game was pretty frustrating for the first 3 quarters. But then UVA picked up steam, tied up the game in the last few minutes of the 4th qtr, and ended up winning in OT! So it was a nice and exciting finish. Dave and I had a good time exploring the campus, walking along "The Corner" and getting in to the UVA football spirit. A really fun trip overall!

No Halloween Scrooge Here!

I decided that I should update the look of my blog, at least for the month of October. My friends starting asking me what I was going to be for Halloween back in September. I was shocked. Do people really plan that far in advance? I don't plan on dressing up at all. I always feel like a fool, so why plan in advance to feel like one? Some have accused me of being a scrooge. "Bah Humbug!" So to counter-act, I decided to change the background of my blog to a halloween theme. :)

I DO like a lot of things about Halloween; I think the little kids are so cute when they dress up. I love carving pumpkins, going to the pumpkin patch, the cooler weather, the haunted houses, candy corns, etc. So I'm not a COMPLETE scrooge about it. I do however think that the bulk of the halloween parties that are thrown are LAME. So this year I'm thinking of hitting up Kings Dominion to get the biggest thrill. Perfect that Halloween is on a Friday this year!

Birthdays and Pumpkins

This past weekend I was able to fly to St. Louis to visit my 2 brothers. Matt had his 19th birthday on the 2nd, so I was able to be there to celebrate with him. The plan was to go to this sweet go-carting place, but we found out that it is now closed on the weekdays. So instead, we went to Dave & Buster's for food and fun!

The next day Natalie, Matt, Cassi and I went to the park for lunch and fed the ducks. Cassi was so excited that one of the ducks ate the bread right out of her hand!

On Saturday, we all went to the pumpkin patch. It was fun to help the kids pick out their pumpkins. I was told that Zach was pretty obsessive over his tiny pumpkin last year, but this year he wanted a big one! So I told him that was ok. He was excited. The pumpkin patch was really cool! Lots of different displays and tons of pumpkins.

Out in the field they had some HUGE pumpkins for sale as well, and Todd and Matt tried to pick those suckers up.

Now it's back to real life. BOO. Vacation life is always so much better! I came home to still nothing done in my place. I wrote my property management a very nasty email and left a voicemail as well. They said that things would get done this week, so I am really crossing my fingers. In other news, I had to break down and find a primary care physician because my body is not feeling right. I've successfully avoided going to the doctor the entire time I've lived out here. It's officially been 4 years since I first moved to VA. THAT is crazy to think about, too. I didn't expect to be living here this long, as I got used to moving around a lot in my adult life. Sometimes I wonder about the future. Where will I be? At least I know that I will be here for at least another year, as my lease is that long. So I won't worry about the future for another 11 months or so. :)