Spontaneous Weekend Visits

Can you believe it's July 1st? How in the world did June slip by so fast? 

That's ok...bring on the fall weather!!

This past weekend my mother-in-law and brother-in-law decided to come down for a spontaneous trip! We love having friends and family visit so we were super excited that they decided to come over!

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When we got official word they were on their way and after a trip to the grocery store, my husband and I went into a cleaning frenzy. He helped, though, really. Now I don't see this as a fault and I know my in-laws and friends won't think less of me if the house isn't spotless (who has time to keep a house 'spotless'?), but when people come over, it is a perfect excuse to clean the house in record time! Works like a charm. I'm a pretty organized and clean person, but the house always looks great seconds before guests arrive! 

They arrived late Friday evening and so we mostly talked and played games. I had to work Saturday morning so everyone else stayed up and hung out when I went to bed early like the old lady I am. Saturday afternoon we all went down to the Farmer's Market to sample and buy local, delicious goodies. We bought eggs and potatoes for a super late breakfast and even bought the most delicious goat cheese from Spring Mill Farm. Sun dried tomato goat cheese is my guilty pleasure...it is to die for!

After the Market and a delicious homemade breakfast (at 2pm?!) we relaxed for a bit but then decided we should go out and enjoy the day. The hot, hot day. We drove down to Peaks View Park and walked the trails and got some sun. It was really nice, but quite hot. We were ready for some AC after a few miles!

Even Kito got to come along! He had a blast!

Don't tell but we even stopped by DQ on the way back for smore's blizzards! 

Sunday we made poppyseed chicken (delicious...recipe post in the works!) and butter! Yes, we made our own butter! It's incredibly easy but I won't give it all away now. I'll try and have that in a post for you all this week! 

All in all in was a wonderful weekend. Can't wait to have them out again!

And to top it off, now that it's July...it's officially my birthday month! This is the first birthday in about 5 years now that the camp we always work isn't happening during my birthday! Not that we don't love working camp, but I'm so excited to actually get to celebrate my birthday this year! It's also my "quarter of a century" birthday as my husband likes to remind me, so we're thinking an awesome celebration is in order! I can hardly wait!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun or productive? What are some awesome birthday ideas? I'm up for cliche� or unique ideas! 

Till next time,

Catherine

Virginia Renaissance Faire-Spotsylvania, Virginia

This past Memorial Day weekend we were able to be back in Richmond with our families. Among the rest of the fantastic weekend (the most perfect weather weekend ever!), we also went to the Virginia Renaissance Faire at Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, Virginia! 

It was a new experience for us but it was a lot of fun! Plus free tickets don't hurt! My sister- and brother-in-law were both volunteer performers so we scored free tickets through them!

Clear blue sky! The weather was absolutely amazing and the cicadas were loud!

My lovely sister-in-law playing her part well as Margaret Emmerson. I don't know how they're all so good at staying in character! My favorite was when they called an iPhone a "pixie box."

Brian and I waiting anxiously for the mini circus show to start! 

Circus Stella was phenomenal! Dextre (pictured above) and Jana (pictured below) are a beautiful young couple who perform together. They also have 5 rescue dogs, 3 of which have a part in the show! 

It's hard to see but that's Jana up on a static trapeze. I know I wouldn't be brave enough to be up on one of those!

She is incredibly flexible and has balance like a cat!

Dextre stood on a ladder with no support! Then he had this kid climb up the ladder, again with no support, and give him his hat!

Shouldn't this be the other way around? Haha. 

Clearly the circus was my favorite part of the faire. I took way too many pictures! She also did an aerial silks routine which was amazing. 

Balancing on a chair on a tight rope!

Did I mention dogs?! Here's their newest rescue puppy named Mabel. 

Stella, the circus' namesake!

Stella jumping over Louise.

Adrian walking on poles. 

Parrot dog! She looked comfy up there!

 Dancing at the May Pole.

The minstrels playing music for the dancers. 

Shh...don't tell my husband I have evidence of him participating! He's such a good sport!

There were even alpacas!

And a falcon! Apparently there are only about 2,000 falconers left in the United States and there's a very strict hierarchy that you have to make your way up.

Jousting!! We walked over in time to see this final joust but that's all we got to see. The winner was a woman! 

The Lady's Court of Love. This was a fun interactive bit where anyone could come up and bring up a love matter than needed help solving. It could be anything from, "My friends said they would come here today at 2pm but they were late!" or "My husband won't admit I'm right!" And then the ladies of the court will banter and make a decision. It was pretty entertaining!

And here's a crummy shot of one of the vineyards. 

The faire is going on from now unti June 9th on Saturdays and Sundays. It's $9 to get in but children 5 and under are free. It's a great place to visit for fun but also is a great learning experience for kids (and adults too!). Definitely more fun than reading a textbook!

Lake Anna Winery is also a great place to visit! They're open Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm and Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm. Ask for a tour and bring a group with you! 

How'd you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Have you been to a renaissance faire before? 

Till next time,

Catherine

The Walking Dead Workout-Season 2

Better late than never, here's my recap of Season 2 of The Walking Dead Workout! We're about halfway through Season 3, I know...I know. The season is over, but we don't have TV so we just watch the episodes online after they've aired. This show is so intense! 

If you haven't been following this workout, here are the rules for when you're watching the show:

You can also find my intro to The Walking Dead Workout HERE and the complete Season 1 HERE. 

Just to clarify, the numbers are the TOTAL numbers of what exercise you should be doing, not how many of each thing happened. For example, in Season 2-Episode 1, you will do 25 crunches, meaning only 5 walkers were killed. Don't worry, you won't always have it so easy! 

Here's another quick breakdown if you're looking for more targeted workouts.

Season 2:

Episode 1-Easy

Episode 2-Easy

Episode 3-Abs

Episode 4-Easy

Episode 5-Easy

Episode 6-Abs

Episode 7-Abs

Episode 8-Legs

Episode 9-Moderate/Abs

Episode 10-Abs

Episode 11-Moderate/Abs

Episode 12-Hard/Abs

I also explained more details and particulars in this post HERE about Season 1. 

What do you think about The Walking Dead Workout? Is it something you'd try? 

Till next time,

Catherine

Scary Roads and Weekend Fun

I don't know how it is where you're from but here in Lynchburg it is COLD and WET! Yuck! Areas near Richmond got snow but we just got rain and ice.

On our way home from Richmond last night it began to rain a little, but nothing bad. The temperature was above freezing so we cruised as usual. All of a sudden, maybe 20 minutes from home, we saw about 6-7 sets of tail-lights going every which way on either side of the road. There was one car in front of us and they began to hit the brakes and fortunately we *carefully* followed suit. Just in the nick of time because we began to slide back and forth a bit but we were able to slow down safely without ending up like the other cars. It was a panicked 15 seconds for sure!

The odd part was that it was only that small few hundred foot section of road that was iced over but nowhere else was. I'm just so thankful we saw it in time! One car was facing down into a ditch but up on a hill on the other side so they were facing the road! No idea how they managed that but I hope everyone is OK!

Other than that we had a wonderful visit in Richmond. We got to spend time with family, including my precious niece and see some friends too. It didn't work out for me to have a girl's night like I had planned but that's ok...we'll be back soon and we can hopefully do it then!

My husband and his friends even made a bow out of PVC (for about $10) from this tutorial video I found! Man oh man did they have fun doing that! Unfortunately they didn't get pictures for a tutorial but the'll be making more and next time I'll be sure they get pictures! Maybe even a video too! So be on the lookout for that!

As for today, it's a snuggle under the covers and watch a movie kind of day! It's too cold for anything else!

How was your weekend? Are you as ready for spring as I am? 

Till next time,
Catherine

Breaks Interstate Park

Only this awfully cold, dreary and wet day in Lynchburg, I thought I'd share with you a quick post about a weekend trip to Breaks Interstate Park. It's a place I had never heard of but we stayed there for a weekend when my husband had a weekend job nearby. 

To get there we had to drive through the most insanely curvy roads I have ever seen!! 

This Mapquest picture doesn't do it justice! These roads were ridiculous! My husband and I were both feeling car sick it was so bad! Haysi, Virginia, where the pin on the map is, is the area he had to work in but Breaks Interstate Park was nearby. All of the dark green area at the top-left is the park. Oh and not to mention in addition to the curvy roads, everything was either a hill or a mountain! It's right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and right by the Virginia/Kentucky border. 

The park was really pretty and nice. The photo above was taken from the restaurant in the park. They've got it set up like a combination resort/hotel but relaxed. Breaks Interstate Park is considered "The Grand Canyon of the South" because of the immense ravine between the mountains. It's pretty spectacular. 

Here we are in front of the "Grand Canyon of the South"...not that you can tell! 

The pictures don't do it justice but it was really a sight to see. Much greener than the real Grand Canyon! 

Where's your favorite little-known tourist attraction? Is it local or in another state?

Till next time,

Catherine

DIY: Greeting Card Binder

OK are you prepared for this?

Gather your sweet and lovely cards from your wedding, your baby shower, past birthdays, whatever you want.

Dust off your hole puncher.

Buy binder clips from Target (about $3 for an assorted pack of 8) in the office supply section.

Now get to work. 

I don't really need to give a tutorial for this do I? 

What a "Duh!" moment on how easy this is and what a great solution for all those cards you can't toss! I did this with all the cards from my bridal shower and wedding. I also cut cardboard to fit in the front and back as covers but haven't gotten around to doing anything cute with them. Maybe I'll glue some cute scrapbooking paper over it or even Mod Podge some pretty fabric. 

Another cool aspect of this project is that you can always unclip the rings and add more cards as time goes on! 

What would you do to make it look cute and decorative?

Till next time,

Catherine