Mary Did You Know

Life has been seemingly busy and stressful the past few weeks.

The music has been hard, practicing sometimes seems ineffective, and we have this mammoth paper due in just a few days...

We don't have Christmas decorations, this English village doesn't seem very in to decorating, and we don't get out enough to witness any Christmas-y festivities....

All in all it does NOT seem as though Christmas is less than two weeks away.

Every year I try to get my heart into the spirit of Christmas, really contemplating the meaning. I've found it difficult this year since we are in such an isolated place and environment. EVERYthing is different than what I'm used to. Absolutely everything.

BUT, Drew sent me this video yesterday and BAM, Christmas. I hope you enjoy this as much as we have!!

 

 

Also, can someone buy me that floral cap please? (seriously...)

 

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December means...

When I woke up this morning I realized that it is DECEMBER already, y'all!!! 

Can you believe that? It's pretty much time to wave goodbye to 2013 because I'm quite confident that this month will just fly by...

 

December means that I have officially been in England for two whole months. It also means I'm a little more than a third of the way through my flute course here with Trevor Wye.

December means I finally have to do something related to school work (oh, good morning to you, cow that just moo-ed quite loudly outside my window...). Writing a paper over the origins of the flute up until the 1700s will take a good bit of time...

December also means I have several things to look forward to in the very near future! Liiiiiike a tour of the HARRY POTTER STUDIO! I'm going to fangirl more than I ever have in my whole entire life and I just need to finish that paper before I can go. Good incentive, right?

December (this is more of a "December downer"... Sorry) means that I have been away from Drew for 61 days and away from my family 72 days. Double that and that's how far I have to go before I see them again. 

((If you've been a reader of mine for awhile, you might have noticed that I don't mention Drew quite as much as I did when he was gone for BCT. Pretty much because it's too stinkin sad, not going to lie- Yes, if you let it, long distance can be absolutely soul crushing, but we're doing great! I just don't feel like being the person who constantly talks about how much they miss their SO, because if I started doing that I'm pretty sure I'd just cry for the remaining four months and I absolutely refuse to be that person!))

Thanksgiving away from home was hard. Special, but hard. I can say now that I'm More thankful for my family, especially the fact that we Do get together every year. I'm very thankful for such loving and uplifting people :) 

 

 

But finally, December means being reunited with one of my soul people IN PARIS of all places!!! I'm so so so excited to spend Christmas with my lovely friend Darbi, to see Paris for a few days, and to be refreshed for the second half of this flute class!!

So- cheers to your December. I hope you make something meaningful and memorable out of the last little bit of 2013!! 

Giving Thanks

 

I am thankful for family- for simply being the definition of family, which to me means love and continuous support no matter the distance.

I am thankful for Drew for the same reason, but also for daily encouragement and believing in my potential.

 I am thankful for my teachers and mentors who have invested their time and energy into molding my life as a musician.

I am thankful for friends that I can see or speak with twice a year and still feel as connected to them as ever, as well as the friends that I share life with on a more frequent basis.

I am thankful for my roommates here in England because they are as supportive and accommodating as can be for three people who didn't even 

know each other two months ago!

 

 

I am thankful for the beauty of a God's creation that is so evident here in the English country side. It fuels my soul and inspires me daily.

 

 

I am thankful for this life experience and the personal trails, changes, and successes I am going through because of it. 

Joyful Two Years

Two years ago in November I was finally introduced to the "cool new trumpet grad student" that my friends (**ahem Christina and Kate**) kept telling me about.

I had graduated from Baylor (for the first time) in May of that year and was spending some time at home teaching private lessons for flute and working at the eye doctors office. It was an occassional joy of mine to re-visit Baylor to spend time with my friends as well as taking lessons with Dr. Arnone while I was there.

One fateful visit at the beginning of November I just happened to be in town for the Baylor Symphony's Mahler concert so I of course was dragged along with my friends (the present day Mr. and Mrs. Culbertson, if my memory serves me correctly). Much to my humiliation, the "cool new trumpet grad student" walked by, in what I now know well as his "pre-concert-getting-pumped mood", and my dear dear friend Christina screams "DREW COME MEET PAIGE!!!!!"

OH My Goodness. Seriously?!

A quick hello and probable hand shake was exchanged and we parted ways and I most likely gave C the stank eye accompanied by an extremely red face...

There was that, never talking to that guy again!!!! But then we ended up at the same post-concert hang (not speaking, of course) and at a mutual friend's recital the next day. The guy had pretty cool glasses, I had to admit....

Thus our friendship was born. Because I worked at an eye doctor's office and had an appreciation for tastefully trendy frames. (Thanks Warby Parker!)

Embarrassingly flirtatious facebook messages were exchanged and I learned in the next week or so that Drew was visiting friends "in some town called Kingwood....you like in Houston, right?" for Thanksgiving! Weird.

So Drew ended up a few streets over from me in Kingwood, TX on Thanksgiving 2011. Turns out nothing is open on Thanksgiving (heh) so I made coffee for us (I learned an extremely important detail about him that first "date"- black coffee only) and we hung out for several hours in one of my favorite spots in Kingwood talking about our mutual friends, how he ended up at Baylor, our hopes and dreams, yada yada. I was pretty nervous, but on November 24, 2011 I knew there was something pretty special about this guy.

Fast forward to the present day and we are celebrating two years of Paige and Drew awesome-ness.

In two years I've watched Drew work harder than almost anyone I know and go on to win two jobs. He inspires and encourages me daily! In two years I've watched Drew grow into the man that he wants to be. He pushes me to be a better version of myself. In two years I've witnessed his loyalty to the people that he loves- family, friends, and fellow musicians. I'm happy to be with such lover of God's creation- whether it be people, animals, art....

Happy Anniversary Drew! You make me proud daily and I'm so pleased to be your girl :)

** Photography by Sarah Lake (http://sarahlakephotography.wordpress.com) from lifeofloveblog.com

 

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Emotional Dump- 4 Things I Have Learned

 

I started this blog because I met a pretty stinkin awesome person (*ahem Sarah lifeofloveblog.com*) who had a blog. On a whim I thought "SO FUN, I WANNA DO THAT!" and this blog was born.

 

Forgotten was my past of writing in a journal literally everyday through elementary and middle school (oh man, are those a good laugh....I recorded EVERYTHING). Diaries, prayer journals, even a blog that I started about my journey through reading Purpose Driven Life...I can't remember a time when I didn't record my various thoughts, findings, inspirations, feelings.

 

What was new to me was the community I discovered through blogging. Amazing! After a little over a year, it still blows my mind that there are people our there who actually read this thing, let alone all the amazing women that I have "met" through this little blogging journey. I think I got caught up in the whirl-wind of the environment- giveaways, link-ups, sponsors, etc. and forgot why I write in the first place. Yes! It is lovely to know that people are reading. Yes! It feels amazing when people leave comments. But I've let myself back into the grade school mentality of wanting to be popular, writing what I think other people will want to read, instead of saying what I want to say.

 

SO, even thought I've been writing a lot, I haven't been posting. Its easier for me to formulate ideas when I'm simply trying to clear my head or organize all these new thoughts that I'm gathering instead of trying to entertain the masses with how phenomenal life in England is.

 

Background story: I'm in England (in Elmsted, the middle of nowhere, affectionately referred to as "the shire") for 6 calendar months, in the middle of week 8, studying flute with Trevor Wye. Just look him up if you're curious.

 

Sometimes (quite often) I get sad. Sometimes I want to go home. Often I want to cry because I miss my family and my dog. Every day I have to convince myself that this is the best thing for me and that Drew is doing just fine in Virginia and that he'll still be there waiting for me when I get back.

 

So, instead of rambling on Facebook like people often do, I'm going to write about how I feel on this blog. Because thats why I made it.

 

People keep telling me to keep my chin up, to embrace the fact that I'm experiencing this once in a life time opportunity. You're all correct! This is absolutely a once in a life time opportunity. And I don't want you to get the wrong idea- I am SO thankful and glad to be here. I have learned in 7.5 weeks more and differently than anything I had in mind and I am expectantly awaiting the next 4.5 months.

 

I have learned:

 

1) I didn't know ANYTHING.

 

Ok- thats a bit of an overstatement, Buuuuuut holy cow am I getting my behind kicked daily! If I can give you any advice it would be to get out of your comfort zone, no matter what it is that you do, and realize that you should never settle. Yes, you are talented and amazing and such passion and fire....but sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes you are fooling yourself into thinking that being comfortable is good thing and that you have "arrived" but Oh Honey is there more out there for you! (maybe that was all referring to myself,,,,but I'm sure I'm not the only one)

 

2) I can do it.

 

For probably the first 3 weeks (AT LEAST) that I was here, I thought that there was absolutely no way in the entire universe that I was going to be able to survive these 6 months of ridiculously difficult flute life. I was asked to make changes in my flute playing that I didn't think were physically possible for me. I had musical/flute problems pointed out to me daily that I had never been presented with before. But now in week 7, I've overcome (for the most part) those problems from week 1-3 and I've moved on to tackle a whole set of new ones. But you know what? Thats growth.

 

3) Theres no place like home.

 

Thank goodness for the internet because I can't even imagine living in a separate country from my loved ones and only being able to communicate through letters and calling cards (although I do adore letters). Hooray phones and imessage and viber and facetime and facebook and all that good stuff, but theres something about being in a new country that makes you crave the closeness of family and friends that a phone call can't really fix.

 

4) God is faithful.

 

Weeks 1-3 presented themselves with no internet (we seriously though we would die) and many other challenges that were entirely new to me. I'm used to loving and nurturing professors, living with my best friends, a music school full of friendly faces, Drew being a three minute drive away, mom and dad driving three hours to see me in a heartbeat.... England doesn't have any of those comforts. Thank goodness my new roommates hear are fan-freakin-tastic, but thats another story altogether. In weeks 1-3 I probably cried more than I care to admit and told God daily that He was the only thing that would get me through these 6 months. Not only is He doing that, but I've had so much time to reflect on how He has delivered me this far. Seriously, from an 11th grader developing tendinitis to an undergrad who had to stop playing for months at a time for physical therapy, I've somehow made it this far and am still playing daily (almost) entirely pain free. Thank The Lord for that. I am so blessed to still be pursuing this path.

 

If you have read this far, you're such a trooper and I appreciate you more than you know! I've heard that you should always include at least one photo in each blog post, so please be blessed by this seriously miraculous sunset that I got to witness last week!!

 

 

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Sunset Blessings

The sun has started setting around 4:30 everyday, and it will continue to set earlier until the shortest day of the year when we will only have about 7 hours of sunlight.

 

At first I thought, "wow, this will be a cold, dark and depressing winter..." But I have since decided to look at it differently.

 

At some point in time I read that in order to live a fulfilling life you should venture outside daily. I completely agree. What do you guys think?

 

Especially when you spend at least 6 hours a day with your flute and Reichert and Taffanel and Gaubert...it is 100% crucial to wander outside, take a deep breath of fresh air, and think about things greater than yourself and the flute.

I'm so blessed to be in such a beautiful area, and with the sun setting so early each day I get to take my practice break, walk outside and over a pretty awesome hill to see the sun set every day.

 

You know what is so awesome about sunsets?? They are different every day.

I'm enjoying these sunsets so much. I know that I'm not a fantastic photographer, but I'm considering posting weekly with my sunset shots of the week! it is a project of sorts that is becoming very important to me while I'm here.

I love the last shot because you can see Venus on the left side! Venus travels so close to the sun that you can only see it at the right time of year right after the sun sets. So cool!!!

Look up the time that the sun sets in your area and takes break to watch this week. You won't regret it!

 

 

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Leggings are NOT pants. Unless...

 

You know what's great about living in the shire and 4-5 days of the week only leaving the house for walks around the country side?

 

Hobbits.

 

Just kidding. Leggings!

 

I have, in the past, been an avid believer in the "leggings are not pants!!!" rule, but you know what? If Yoda (the neighbors cat), the chickens, and the occasional horse/sheep/cow are the only living creatures to see me, YES I am going to be rocking these way too worn out- should never be worn in public leggings. And I'm not sorry!

 

Add leg warmers, baggy sweaters, and slippers and I am in crumpet eating, tea (ok, still coffee....) drinking English heaven.

 

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Never Ever Ever...

Never Ever Ever...

Never ever ever have I taken this many baths in a row. (Ok, I realize that probably needs an explanation....) 

We have this interesting shower situation. There are separate faucets for both hot and cold water on one side of the tub, with a shower head on the Other side of the tub. I realize that it is this way because the shower head was added on waaaay later....BUT the shower head has a power BUTTON. How weird is that? Also, outside of the bathroom there is a switch that says "SHOWER" that needs to be on for the shower to work. So I'm telling you all of this to say that the shower currently hasn't been working. Since last Thursday. Turn the switch on (that means hot water routed to the shower head), press the button, FREEZING WATER. Not a fun little progression there. So, in order to avoid freezing cold showers in 50 (excuse me, 10) degree weather, we have been resorting to baths. I do NOT like baths....its just dirty and ew and I'll end that rant right there. (also, washing your hair in the sink is hard work!!!!) 

All that to let you know that my hair hasn't felt properly clean in almost a week. FUN TIMES AT THE OLD DAIRY.

Never ever ever have I been such an adventurous food try-er! (Yes, I know auto correct, try-er is not really a word....) 

Since I have been in England I have tried jellied eel, smoked eel, sushi of all kinds, seaweed, salmon (I know I know, whats wrong with me...), wet walnuts with salt (um, YUM), various veggie chips ("swanky veg" is my favorite...because of the name) and I feel there there must be more than that, but I can't think of anything at the moment.

Never ever ever will I turn into a tea drinker.

Sorry England, its not you, its me. Coffee coffee coffee coffee....

Never ever ever have I been without Mexican food for a whole month.... WAAAH. 

Someone box up some Chuys/Los Cucos/Ninfas/etc and ship it to me ok??

Never ever ever have I played this much flute in one month. 

Ok, thats a lie. I know that the combination of practicing, rehearsals, and concerts racked up quite a few hours while I was in school. But this is different....no rehearsals, no concerts, no chamber music, no homework (kind of...) just practicing the flute. I might just get good while I'm here!!!

Never ever ever have I received a letter while I've been here. 

SAD DAY, Y'ALL!!! I'm not silly enough to post my address on the internet, but the Army has forced me to fall in love with letters, and if you love writing as well, I'd love to hear from you!! (So many commas in that sentence, sorry...) Leave me a comment saying if you'd like to write and I'll write you back with my address!!

*I have yet to download and try the blogging app that I was advised to use (I promise I will!!) But today I'm linking up with this awesome chick that dressed up as Robin Sparkles for Halloween. I mean, come on. Her name is Stephanie and she blogs at Vintage Modern Wife- go check her out!!!

So for now, no links and no high quality photos the size that I would like them to be....oh well! 

Happy Month-iversary, England! Its been interesting ;)

Flute update and OOTD, rainy England style!

I haven't been taking nearly as much time for blogging as I thought I would. The past year, blogging was my outlet and the way that I chose to use my little bit of downtime, to relax and let my emotions and experiences out in a creative way.

In England, my creative juices are absolutely churning, but mostly I'm taking time to write emails and journal for myself and to keep a log of my flute progress.

To bring you up to speed if you are wondering why in the world this Texas girl is in England...

I'm extremely fortunate and blessed to be studying the flute with Trevor Wye as a member of his private studio. Trevor is a world renowned flutist and teacher- most of the flute world has studied from his publications at some point or another. SO, I am here to soak up as much as I can as far as the flute and his stories/teaching goes. 

Let me tell you, in less than a month I know that I have already learned so much!! It isn't extremely pleasant to have someone point out your biggest flaws as a musician bi-weekly (some that you didn't even realize you had!), but that is why I'm here!! We are constantly in a state of being picked apart....but the growth that comes from that process is tremendous. Its emotionally draining and exciting!!

Alright, enough about flute for now :) Today I'm excited to link up with one of my favorite fashion blogs, Walking in Memphis in High Heels. Her challenge was to style fur for the fall (mine is faux, of course). So thanks to my awesome roomie, Katie, I'm showing of my fur vest....that I wear a LOT here in England! And wellies, of course, because its raining. Always. 

***bare with me...I'm not very good at blogging on my ipad so I can't figure out how to post html or link back to people....urg. Any great apps out there?!

I'm maybe a little excited to finally make use of this vest....I actually wonder why I bought it living in Texas....oh well ;)

In the next few days I'll try to post a few more photos (including puppies, a bird taller than me, a house older than the US, etc...) along with some stories from the past week or so! 

Can you believe I've been in England almost a month already?! 

Currently...

Currently... I am listening to the beautiful sound of steady rain in an otherwise completely silent area of the world. The rain is not working wonders for my need to practice at least 5 hours a day while I am here- all I want to do is wear sweatpants and read a book in my bed!

Currently... I am reading The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Its an absolutely gorgeous story. I loved Gatsby, and this book was laying around our dairy when we got here so I decided to give it a go! Currently life is "beautiful", but since I'm about half way through I'm guessing the "damned" part will be coming soon. (**this is NOT a spoiler, I'm just loosely interpreting the title)

Currently... I am BEYOND THRILLED and so so so INCREDIBLY PROUD of my handsome talented man!! Not only has he started his job with Pershing's brilliantly (in my slightly biased opinion), but he just won a second job as the 3rd trumpet in the Annapolis symphony! Two jobs fresh out of school?! If I weren't so pleased I might be jealous!! Love you sweetie- SO HAPPY for you!!

Currently... I am missing easy internet access for the sake of easily keeping in touch with family and friends. Hopefully this will be remedied soon, but we are trying not to get our hopes up.

Currently... I am missing the following things: a dishwasher, a functional dryer, central heat, a shower that has a full curtain, and my pillow.

Currently... I am enjoying the following things: crumpets, black currant jam, evening walks with Trevor, and the company of my new roommates.

Currently... I am enjoying REAL fall weather for a change! My sweaters and vests (excuse me- "waist coats") are getting good use in England so far. 

First week in England!

Hi friends!
England is beautiful and green and every bit as picturesque as I had imagined.

I got a bit scared because the first day we had to use the heater already...but ever since its been very nice, maybe a high of 60? Sometimes our walks are quite cool (temperature wise), but we always end up having to strip jackets off because the hills are pretty extreme!!!

Its been absolutely flute all day everyday, the way that it will stay for  most of my time here.

I have a few pictures to share (if I can get them to work!!) that I took during our walks to and from Trevor's house.

My roommates and I live in "The Old Dairy" which actually used to be the dairy. Yes, cows used to live in our rooms!! I'm sure it wasn't carpeted at the time though ;)

Life has been a little interesting since we are having to get used to a slightly different way of life. For example, each electric outlet has a switch on it. So not only does the appliance have to be turned on, but the outlet has to be turned on as well! And there is a meter that you have to feed...we already made the mistake of letting it run out so our power went out in the middle of a clear day! Then we realized that we had let to meter run out...
________________

Alrighty- WELL, Because of the terrible internet situation we have going on, this is now almost a week later!

I was worried that it would be cold, but it has been absolutely lovely! It gets chilly at night and its very moist here, so the hills are beautifully foggy in the morning but the sun comes around and burns it off. Right now I'm sitting outside wearing a light sweater and jacket looking across the street at a church built in the 12th century. GORGEOUS.

So far we have been practicing and adjusting to Trevor's classes. We have class on Monday's and Thursdays. The other days we practice (all day), take walks, and cook!  We literally live next door to chickens, across the street from horses (we just bought mints to feed them so they will like us...), and down the street from sheep! The story book kind. Absolutely adorable. Also, when we walk to Trevor's there cows at the top of the hill that we say "Good Morning!" to (in a British accent, of course) and occasionally the "moooooo" back. Its the little things, right?

Greetings from England!

Hi guys!!

Quick update to let you know that I'm in England- alive and well!

What is NOT alive and well is my internet situation....so I'm a bit worried that my blogging will suffer for quite awhile.

My hope is that once a week or so I will be able to update with some beautiful photos of life in this tiny village out in the country. It really is a magical place. And rainy. With lots of spiders....in the cottage.

Anywho, lots of fluting (playing the flute) has been going one, and lots more will continue!
That is why I'm here after all....

So don't give up on me! I'll be here as much as possible :)

Bye Bye USA!! (so many pictures...)

First of all, did you guys know that Goldfish PUFFS exist?!? Boyfriend's roommate introduced me to them the other day and let me just say "You're Welcome!" in advance :)

(he's so fancy ;) *giggle...) 

I LOVE Virginia!!

The weather has been beautiful, the day trips (tourism at its finest) have been an absolute dream, spending time with Drew and his (GREAT) friends has been so much fun, and now I feel totally musically unprepared to go to England....

So before I share a few of my favorite photos from the past few days:

THANK YOU- to my entire family for being SO supportive of this journey! There is no way I would be going to England to study (is this real life?!) for 6 months without you.

THANK YOU- to my teachers for pushing me and pouring your hearts and knowledge into teaching me! I absolutely would not be where I am without your guidance.

THANK YOU- friends for encouraging me and celebrating with me. You all help me see the best in every situation!

I'M FLYING TO ENGLAND TOMORROW!!!!!!

Ok, now more Virginia/DC visit pictures :)

(get OUT of my picture!!! ok, maybe I'm just too lazy to crop it...)

This is a super bittersweet moment for me....

Along with being unbelievably excited about living in a country that I've never even seen for 6 months, getting to travel a little bit, and most of all soaking in all that I can while studying with Trevor....I'm also pretty anxious.

Texas has been home for a LONG time....and I already did that whole no talkie thing with Drew for 3 months while he was at BCT. I know I'm going to be incredibly homesick from the separation, but I also know that I will be having an Amazing experience and that my time in England will fly by!

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this blog as easily as I think...not sure what the internet situation will be like in my new(old....) place! SOOOO I'll be praying for peace and safe travels!

Next time you hear from me I will be settling into my new temporarily English life :)

Copycat Cooking WIN

Like I said yesterday, we have had some pretty lofty recipe goals the past few days.

Its been SO fun! We (I) waste some good time on pinterest searching for delicious sounding recipes, walk a few blocks to the grocery store to buy the ingredients, and we cook pretty much every night!

So far we've made honey balsamic chicken, white wine sauce for pasta with chicken and veggies, copy cat Chuy's creamy jalepeño dip, and copycat Chili's southwestern eggrolls!

As you all know by now, I'm pretty much the most horrible food photographer in the world, but I'm so excited about the success of these recipes that I felt the need to share :)

**I did NOT come up with these recipes, therefore I will NOT be posting tutorials on how to make them, but I will be posting the source of the recipe! :)

If you don't live within reach of a Chuy's, then you probably haven't had this delicious dip. (and I'm very sorry!)

Creamy Jalepeño dip- YUM. Seriously, this recipe turned out so well! It would have made a massive amount (a good party size!) so we 4thed the recipe. If you know the Chuy's dip well, you'll know that it isn't exactly the same, but is still Very good! A must try :)

Now on to Baked Southwestern "Egg rolls"

Drew mincing jalepeños

sautéing onions 

ingredients: onion, black beans, chicken, corn, spinach, chili powder, and cumin (just missing the pepper jack in this photo! 

YUM!!!

I would Not call myself an experienced chef, so for us these were definitely a two person project! 

They were DELICIOUS and pretty stinkin good leftover as well! They were pretty spicy, so for my taste I would half the spices and jalepeño next time :) and there will most definitely be a next time!

One of the great things about the dip recipe, is that you can always chose healthier options for ingredients such as fat free mayo and light sour cream. And the "egg rolls" are baked, not fried, so they really are fairly healthy!! I'm curious to try baking them with egg roll wraps instead of wheat tortillas at some point, but I'm really pleased with how these turned out.

These recipes are worth giving a try, so let me know what you think! :)

Travel Log- the Beginning!

I made it to DC! Ok ok, I always say DC, but technically its Arlington VA.

Apparently iPhone 4 front facing camera isn't too great in dim lighting...but its DREW AND BOBBY!

Drew went to work and I got left with $10 to “go explore,” which of course includes coffee and blogging! So I’m sitting here in this little coffee shop a few blocks from Drew’s place, with a name that I won’t even attempt to pronounce, drinking a honey vanilla latte (fancy!), listening to classical radio, and finally writing to you all :)

So, if you follow me on twitter, you might know that my travel day was quite the mess!

This was when I was calmly oblivious of my future travel crazies

First of all let me tell you, I’m an idiot.

Ok, so the story goes: My mom and I drove out to the airport an hour away from our house with plenty of time to spare…..and it turns out I told her the WRONG AIRPORT.

(now you see why I called myself and idiot)

So the airport I really needed to get to was a mere 20 minutes from our house…so we backtracked, hit a bunch of traffic, and I missed my flight for the first time in my life! And it was because I’M AN IDIOT. Luckily for me, US Airways didn’t charge me to hop on the next flight, which was less than two hours later.

I made it to the next flight and we continued to sit on the runway for over half an hour. At this point I realized there was No way I would make my connection flight….super bummer!

Don’t miss your flight, kids! Always do a stupid check on your airport, airline, and departure time before you leave the house…..good-ness.

Cool part of the story is that the girl sitting next to me was heading to see her man (and get married!!!) in the Navy! So we had a fun bonding experience, and it was pretty cool that God stuck us next to each other on a flight where we were both super flustered and anxious. … each of us had a connection that by the time we landed we only had 10 minutes before the next flight took off!

And let me tell you, Praise The Lord, we landed (mind you, we were at the BACK of the plane), had 10 minutes, RAN, and actually made it to our next respective flights. Holy cow. I was so out of breath and embarrassed and of course my bag didn’t make it to the connection flight but I definitely didn’t care since that meant I made it to Arlington! WHEW.

Enough of my embarrassing travel story. I’m here and its great and I’m super happy and we’ve been having a great time!

Went to the National Archives

 

Played with the iOS 7 camera update

We’ve been cooking a lot, which is super fun (I actually have a post coming up on our culinary adventures). Playing ping pong. Visiting “the sites”. And yesterday was extra special for me because I got to see Drew play at a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns. 

I wonder if I will ever stop being obnoxiously proud of him….I doubt it ;)

I’m going to head out for now, but before I do, I have a question for anyone who cares to answer!!

I’m traveling (for the next 6 months) with only my iPad and iPhone. I’m having some difficulty blogging from my iPad even from the regular browser….do any of you blog regularly from a tablet or phone? Do you have any tips or app recommendations for me? I’ll be super grateful!! I’d love the security of knowing I won’t have to borrow laptops from my future roommates every time I want to write a post…which I’m hoping will be often.  :)

Happy Tuesday, friends!!