Country Roads, Take Me Home.

There is something about a trip to the mountains that is good for the soul. I know people that are self-professed "beach people", but I also know that I'm definitely a mountain girl. Maybe it has something to do with my ancestry (my grandma's family on my mom's side grew up as a coal mining family in southwestern Virginia) or the fact that I grew up climbing (and sometimes running up) up mountains at school, but being near the mountains brings a special peace over me, like I have a physical marker of where I am in relation to the rest of the world. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer beach running (without inclines), but when it comes to healing weekends, the mountains make me feel a little closer to God and spiritual awareness than anywhere else.

This past weekend I was able to journey into the mountains twice. My geography skills aren't that good, but I believe they were the Allegheny mountains in MD and the Blue Ridge mountain range in VA. The first part of the weekend was spent in Cumberland, MD visiting Mike's grandparents on his mom's side of the family. Sunday, I got to go home to the mountains for the wedding of a family friend. Monday, back in DC, we invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate Labor Day with a cookout.

Cumberland

Mike and I left DC Friday evening for the 3 hour drive to Cumberland. I know that traveling together is supposed to be a big test of a relationship, but I love traveling with Mike (especially when he is driving). I try to find all of our favorite songs on my ipod, sometimes I make him sing them, and I normally always have snacks. 

We were headed to Cumberland to celebrate the 80th birthday of Mike's grandma, and consequently, I got to meet most of that side of the family. 

Because I think in bullet points, highlights from this trip include:

• Getting surprised at the car as soon as we arrived by Mike's grandparents, Aunt Deb, Aunt Linda, his mom, and "Pfredd" the dog (because "Fred" is a human name).
• Delicious, homemade food the entire weekend!: Chicken enchiladas, turtles, pecan waffles with blueberries and bacon (I like to crumble bacon over the blueberries and waffles before adding syrup), mexican salad, and BLTs.
• Getting to talk about geological mountain formations with Mike's grandpa who is a retired doctor, but also apparently also knows a lot about everything (guess that is where Mike got it from).
• Hearing stories about and seeing pictures of baby Mike.
• Going for a walk around the mountain and seeing the sights.
• Sitting around the table after dinner right before we had to leave and talking for another hour because we had so many funny things to share and discuss before leaving.

We only managed to capture a few photos from our brief stay there, but I hope to get back up there again soon!

Mike, his mom, and I in Cumberland :)

Rappahannock

Going home for a day for the wedding of a high school family friend was really a chance to reunite with my own family (since we were all invited). I got to see how Courtney is progressing and, every time I see her, I'm more and more impressed by the miracle that is pregnancy and more and more confused by how it all works. Due to having one sister who likes to insists on photo shoots (Courtney) and another with pretty sweet photog skills (Kim), we ended up with more pictures from this 12 hour period then I've taken maybe the whole summer. Enjoy!

Me, Kim, and Court with the mountains in the background

Amanda and Matt at the outdoor ceremony

I think this pic was a mistake, but I love how awkwardly candid we all are.

My mom and I before the wedding.

Court and I

Rappahannock Sunset<3

View of the mountains at the wedding. 

Labor Day Meat Party

Mike and I decided a cookout was the appropriate way to usher in September, especially given the abundance of Costco meat we have. Also Ben got back in town over the weekend and I wanted proper quality time with him! Also the law school students started 3L the next day so we had to have one last 2L summer hurrah! Mike made delicious hamburgers and Justine and Patrick provided potato salad, cookies, and pasta salad. The only small cooking blip we had was when Mike and I (yes, I take some responsibility) tried to grill bacon on the grill. If you want to know why people never think to grill bacon, you'll have to check out Mike's blog for the 'after' photo. Hint: it may be hard to spot.

September so far....

MJ and I were fortunate enough to be able to get lunch together this week because I had a midday doctor appointment. We started off at a super healthy joint called the Protein Bar by splitting a fruit smoothie and buffalo chicken salad. Then, as fate would have it, Mike checked Twitter and found out Captain Cookie & the Milkman (his friend Kirk's cookie truck) was nearby. Well, there's no refusing Kirk's cookies. We split a black cherry, ginger molasses, snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich and Mike declared to me afterwards that he might be happy sticking with Ginger molasses and black cherry ice cream combo or the forseeable future. (Now you know how good it is because this is a BIG DEAL for a guy who loves to try new things every single time!)

Cookie #2 truck! Follow Kirk at @captaincookiedc!

So worth it.

I am loving September already. Work has calmed down a little from the start of the school year, but is still keeping me on my toes enough to be enjoyable. The weather is beautiful this week and I have a lot of packed weekends to look forward to (including my sister's baby shower this upcoming weekend)....I'm excited for all that Fall has in store!