vacation

So vacation started out a tad rocky. This trip had been paid for in full since December, hotel and all, just keep that in mind. It's Saturday night and we are so excited to wake up early Sunday morning and drive to Sandusky, OH to go to Cedar Point. At this point nothing was stopping us...or so I thought. Cam happened to check his fantasy baseball team online and noticed the "Cedar Point Closed" was trending in national news. SERIOUSLY, I could not make this up. Apparently there was a water main break on the causeway that leads you out to the park, so the entire park had no water! We were informed that the park would be closed Saturday and all day Sunday, which included our hotel. I was beyond bummed that my very first vacation that I planned was now shot to hell because we had no place to stay and we had lost a day in the park.

After my miniature meltdown I called central reservations and they told me that they could not refund my money, but I could use my hotel night and park ticket for another day during the season. This was great and all, but we live over six hours away. There was no way we were coming back another time this summer. We made the decision to go up on Sunday night and stay on the mainland part of the state, wake up early Monday and have two full days in the park. It was absolutely worth it! I had a blast and can't wait to get back to Cedar Point.

We took the GoPro with us and got some pretty amazing footage that my brother edited and cut for us. The finished product can be found here- Thanks again little bro :)

Cedar Point Ferris Wheel

Cedar Point Trip-2014

Top Thrill Dragster

weekend adventures

What another awesome couple weekends spent in Harrisonburg! I am soaking in all of the local "stuff" before I move away at the end of the summer. 

First was Mother's Day weekend, which I spent with my wonderful momma, and I know she is reading this right now! We got pedicures on Saturday and spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at some JMU baseball games. 

JMU Baseball-under the lights

This past weekend was another one for the books. Cam and I spent the time eating at places that only Harrisonburg can offer, compared to Winchester. First was Macados for me, Q'doba for him and Benny Sorrentino's for both of us. Benny's offers some of the largest pizza I have ever seen. Your choices are as follows: cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and whatever the monthly special happens to be. But that's not what makes it unique. In order to transport one of their pizzas home, you need a pickup truck....yes a pick up truck. The box measures four feet wide and four feet long....I am not joking. The photo below is a slice of their pizza. The best part about the whole thing--the price. We got two slices of pizza and two drinks for 10 bucks flat. 

slice of cheese at Benny's

To wrap up the weekend I spent Sunday morning taking newborn/family photos for my best friend. She is a wonderful mommy to two beautiful children as you will see from some of the photos. I could not be more proud of her for everything she has already taught her son and how much she will influence her daughter. I loved photographing her family because it gave me some great practice shots of kids without the pressure. I will be the first to admit that I should have taken more photos and done more poses, but that's why you practice. I can't wait to show her the finished photos and also make her a gift out of some. Here are some of my favorites from the day. 

There are many more adventures to come with Memorial Day right around the corner, and then vacation after that! 

creative findings

Okay so I know I am not the only one out there who has a problem in Target. You go in to buy one thing and walk out with everything but that one item, so frustrating! My biggest weakness is that glorious Starbucks right inside the door as soon as you walk in. Naturally I had to make a Target run a few weeks ago and was forced to get a slice of banana bread and a hot chocolate on a rainy day. The only benefit of this is that Starbucks ALWAYS has an "app of the week" from the Apple Store. Sometimes they have a featured artists that will give you free downloads to their music, and sometimes you get luck with a awesomely useful app. I happened to pick up the card for the Postale app, in which you can share your travel highlights. 

The culprit card!

In all honesty this app is pretty awesome if you travel, love to take photos, and scrapbook...but without all of the hard work. Here is a sample of one I put together after our family trip to Gettysburg last year. The biggest disadvantage of this app is that it only allows for one photo per postcard. The coolest part is it's finished look. 

Postale sample from Gettysburg

While I was stuck on the couch a for a few days, just watching someone sleep, see previous post here I stumbled across this great product, Project Life. As you can see from my blog I love to live in the moment, but I also like to keep the memories because that's all you have left in the end. This is such a great way for lazy people, like myself, to scrapbook and keep name cards form weddings or maps from vacations with loved ones. This is my next big thing I have my eyes on, and can't wait to get some of her products in my hand. Currently some of her Project Life products are sold at Michaels, but you can also order them online. She has a great selection of designs, papers, and layout styles for just about any creative mind out there.

baby showers and surgeries

I will start this post off with a catch up on my life from the last few weeks...shocking I know. Always behind, but that's because I am too busy living in the moment! 

A few weeks ago I planned and surprised a very dear friend with an incredible baby shower. It wasn't immaculate and it didn't have party favors or crazy weird baby games. The fact that she was surrounded by friends and family who already loved that baby is what made it incredible. She was worried that she would have to buy everything for this baby since it is her second. She told me early in the pregnancy "no one throws a shower for the second child because people already assume you have everything you need." Even though I am not the youngest child I felt bad hearing that and it made me realize that just because its your second or fifth child, you never love them any differently. Needless to say she was surprised beyond belief and was overjoyed by the amount of love and compassion people showered her with that day. 

Mommy-to-be again 

Nursery gifts I made for the mom-to-be

The cake was just as delicious as it is beautiful.

I also took a trip home to see my parents and I enjoyed every minute of it. Once again we didn't do anything "special", unless you count brunch on Saturday, it was all about just being together. We sat around and watched TV, and some of us napped on a sunny Saturday afternoon, but that's what life is about. I also got to see my adorable puppy, aka my thirteen year old dog, before his second ACL surgery. 

pre-surgery

post-op

As you can see he is doing well and doesn't seem to care that he just had his second major surgery in a year. What a tough puppy. I also had to play nurse for my boyfriend after his surgery. It's too bad you can't just put a cone on them and walk away to finish sending emails or make a quick call. It was definitely a learning experience and made me realize what I would do for love, like sleeping on a leather sofa in a freezing basement. Even though it was difficult to balance a medication schedule, meal prep, conference calls, and a mountain of emails I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

bonus picture of my "adopted dog" aka Cam's dog Carlos

day in the district

I am once again very much behind on posting. I swear I am eventually going to get good at this whole blogging thing. Just a quick update based on the last few weeks of my life...

My brother and I share a birthday month so we have done joint "parties" before, and now that we are older we tend to celebrate together since we are only separated by a week. This year we took a weekend trip to the capital to do a little drinking and a little sight seeing. It was great to have my mom and my brother there, along with Cam. Here are a few photos from the trip and the hockey game.



starting the day with drinks at the Red Line



on Capitol Hill

rocking the red as usual

Library of Congress

With hockey season coming to an end, baseball season is now underway. This year I will be rocking the red for the home team and also the orange for the boys in Birdland. Stay tuned for more posts about my crazy simple life

hockey games and new technology

It has been a busy couple weeks at work since February marked the end of the fiscal year. This weekend I was in Winchester since Cam was taking me to a hockey game for my birthday! He bought me center ice seats for the Caps vs. Flyers game on Sunday. I loved the seats and recommended that everyone experience it at least once in their life. 



View from Sunday's game

I finally got my tax return back and spent it on myself for my birthday... and don't feel bad about it at all! I bought myself a new tablet that will double as a work machine while I travel and commute. The Surface Pro 2 has tons of awesome features for just about everyone and their preferences. I am an adamant Apple user (iPhone, Mac, etc.) but I have fallen in love with the Microsoft tablet.

Another hockey game this weekend so stay tuned! 



the national zoo

The highlight of the week was my trip to the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. They are big on species conservation and animal education. There is quite a lot of activity happening at the zoo right now. From Bao Bao the baby panda, and the new lion cubs that were born a few weeks ago. You can find the link to the zoo here National Zoo. Below are some photos I took from the zoo, and the quality isn't the best since I used my iPhone. 

This was an anaconda from the reptile house

One of my favorite photos form the zoo trip

Hermit crab in the invertebrate exhibit

Mama panda

The main point of the trip was to see Bao Bao, the new panda cub. We waited in line for about 30 minutes and while in line we could watch the 24/7 live panda cam. The entire time we waited she was active and playing around in the den. I checked back to the cam about 5 minutes before we walked through the door and she was still active....how lucky right?!? Right as we walked through the door to the enclosure she waddled to her closed door den and fell asleep immediately. SO FRUSTRATING!

Even though I didn't get to see Bao Bao, the trip was still a great success. I also found my absolute favorite animal while I was there....the oriental small-clawed otter! So adorable