Christmas in Old Town

Tim, Aubrey, and I went down to Alexandria to check out the boat parade on the Potomac. Walking down the streets of Old Town was like walking in the story "A Christmas Carol.." The parade had some pretty awesome lights -as you'll be able to see below.

We also got to see Union Station in DC with a cool train display.

I should have majored in Art...

This is what I do at work...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year with just myself, Tim, and Aubrey (Tim's sister). We started out with a Turkey Trot downtown, then made our own feast. I have to say we did a pretty good job on the Turkey for our first time.

The final product of our apple picking adventure. A pie entirely from scratch. Some of you know I want to have my own bakery someday, and this bakery will have pie.

Aubrey and me running across the National Mall

If you look close, you can see the Washington Monument behind us!

The next day at work, a guy who knew I was running said he thought he and his wife both saw me on the news. I saw a camera when I was running, so I smiled at it, and we'll just assume I am famous now.

What you've missed

Though most of the leaves have fallen, and the blue skies are often gray and wet now, here is a picture of what those of you who have not been here missed this Fall. I've said it before, but the camera just doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful.And I promised a picture of our apartment a long time ago, so here is one of our living room. The entrance, kitchen, and dining area are to the left, and our bedroom and bathroom are to the right. It's pretty modest, but we like it.

Philly

The only thing Tim really wanted for his Birthday yesterday was a Philly Cheese Steak, so we up and drove through 4 states to get one. Actually, we'd been planning the trip for a while, and Tim's parents and Aubrey came with us. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first capitol of the US, and a lot of important things happened there to make our country what it is today.
I was most excited to see the historic sites, especially the Liberty bell. I found out: 1. It is located inside of a building (it makes sense, but I always thought it was outside); 2. It used to just be called the statehouse bell (or something similarly boring); 3. It has been a symbol of liberty for the country, the Abolitionist Movement, and later the Women and Civil Rights movements; and 4. It helped with one of the clues to the National Treasure in the movie.

Here are the descriptions of the pictures below going across...1. Independence Hall (tours were sold out, so we only got to see the outside.) 2. Ben Franklin's Post Office (no US flag because they didn't have one at the time he started it) 3. The sign outside Benjamin Franklin's gravesite 4. Elfreth's Alley - the oldest continually inhabited street in the US 5. Betsy Ross' House 6. A flag hung on the side of her house 7. Tim and the back of Independence Hall 8. Cool Bank of Philadelphia sign 9. A main street in Philly with lots of flags.
Of course, Tim got his wish. A Philly Cheesesteak "wiz wit." This is how you order when you want the sandwich with (the original) cheese whiz and "wit" onions. You may also notice his drink says "Pat's King of Steaks." Pat's is the original cheese steak place.

Mine was pretty delicious as well. Though I ordered a "provo wit."And a trip to Philly isn't complete without visiting the "Rocky Stairs." They are actually at the art museum, but we all took our turns making the pose. In honor of the event, I even wore my "rocky" jacket. Here are Tim, Me, and Aubrey (Aubrey's jacket is kind of camo-looking, so you'll have to look close).
There is also a statue of Rocky (the only public statue of a fictional character) on the grounds. Aubrey and I were pretty hard core in the picture above, and below is Tim showing everyone that I am the winner of my match. -of course.
We also had a great time celebrating Tim's birthday on Sunday and Scott and DeAnnes, and Tim sure got spoiled! He got a game called Ticket to Ride, and we all had a really fun time playing it.

Happy Birthday, my Love!

What we did with them....

After our apple picking adventure, we had to do something with them. I found a recipe for apple pie filling you can freeze, and it is pretty delicious! This is on our second attempt. The first time, Tim was cooking unsupervised and put 2 TABLESPOONS of cinnamon in it instead of teaspoons. It just didn't work.

I haven't gotten around to the actual pies yet, but I'm looking forward to that too!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated a week early for Halloween by volunteering at Washington DC's "Boo at the Zoo!" Aubrey was Asian and wore her panda shoes, Tim was a lumberjack and grew a handle bar mustache, and I was a pirate. It ended up raining all day, so this isn't the greatest picture, but we had fun handing out granola bars!

"ARrrr!"

We also decorated our trunk for our wards Trunk or Treat. We didn't get any pictures of it, but we did decorate our living room with the leftovers...it's our Virginia Cemetery, and our dead tv.

Things I like...

Okay, so I do have more things to post, but I just felt the need to express with everyone some things I am passionate about. Here goes:
1. Cute Puppies2. Other puppies that are cute, but not quite as cute as the really cute ones.
3. Puppy Labs and Golden Retrievers
4. When Puppies have friends.
5. Cute Puppy pictures and the search engines that find them.
Of course, at this time in my life, I am satisfied with the pictures, and I enjoy getting excited when I see them on walks, but I am not ready to be a pet parent (and still not quite ready to be a baby parent, either). I just thought I'd share my joy with you. Feel free to save these pictures for your desktop backgrounds, christmas cards, and frames. I pretty much just stole them from google.

A Bushel and a Peck (...and a Hug Around the Neck)

To add to our fun list of Fall Festivities this year, Tim, Aubrey, Kristina, and I went to a "pick your own" farm in a more rural part of Virginia. I had been very excited to pick apples, and Aubrey wanted to go to a pumpkin patch, so we killed three birds with one stone (they had a free hayride, too!), and had a great time.

Us on the hayride

Okay, so we didn't technically pick our apples from a tree, but I liked this way better. We "picked" each specific apple from a big carton of them. There were all different kinds, but Tim made sure to "sample" them before he picked. Aubrey thought it was pretty funny that Tim was the only one there taking bites out of the apples.
They even had fresh caramel apples (which we made later on our own) and made apple cider right in front of you. The top middle picture is of an apple press. I also spent a lot of time trying to capture the beauty of the season, but I would need DeAnne's camera for that, so I took one picture of the leaves in the center of this collage.

And...the pumpkin patch. We all managed to find pretty decent pumpkins. I'm sure we'll take pictures once they are carved.

Falls Church Farm Day

As you can tell, I am enjoying the Fall Festivities already! The city of Falls Church held a Farm Day for kids (and me) which had pumpkin painting, corn grinding, old fashion activities, and (my favorite) a petting zoo! My friend, Jen, from work came along and is the one holding a board she proudly drilled a hole in. We got a kick out of the old Barn which had the horse I am feeding (below) and all kinds of dangerous tools (see the saws in the picture behind Jen) that came right off for any little child to cut their finger off with. I also got to pet a dwarf horse and a chinchilla!

Manassas and the Battle of Bull Run

The city I work in is called Manassas. It is located about 20 miles away from me in the opposite direction (west) of DC, and I like the city because it is smaller, newer, and more rural than where I live. Last Friday, Tim met me after work and we explored the downtown area as well as the battlefield.

City Hall

They had a fun town pavilion and train that Tim took a picture by. I am at the cute train station that is still in operation.

The coolest shop downtown was an old used bookstore. There are always people on movies going in these places looking for books on ghosts. I had never been to a real one, but as you can tell from the picture, it didn't disappoint!

Manassas is famous because it is the location of the Civil War Battles of Bull Run (there were two). We quickly checked out the battlefield and were impressed with it's beautiful rolling hills and scenery. The pictures just don't do it justice. It's Fall here, and I am LOVING seeing the leaves change. -Hopefully it will be even prettier next weekend.

This is the spot where Thomas Jackson was nicknamed "Stonewall Jackson" by General B. E. Bee. Tim is standing next to his statue (posing like him), and the bottom corner of the collage above this tells the story.

I came...

I Ran...I finished...
I know these aren't pretty, but I promised some pictures.

Family Fun!

My whole family came for the marathon...or at least used that as the excuse to get together. We had a great time:
Playing with the kids....

Carving pumpkins....

(I did the ghost one. They all looked pretty awesome)

(Tim rebelled and didn't use a template. Instead, he dedicated his pumpkin to me...so sweet)

...and Rocking out.

Even Will got into it. Maybe he'll take after me and be a drummer.

I also think I ate back every single calorie I burned in the marathon. It was a great weekend!