Third time's a charm...

…Right? I have given this whole blog thing a try twice already. Each time, I have managed to keep up with the blog for a couple of months, then I fade away into the darkness not to be heard from for months. Four months, to be specific, is the length of my latest hiatus.  I have thought about writing many times since then, but for various reasons, I have not. So here I am again, trying to maintain this blog for the third time. Wish me luck!

Since it is obvious that I have not been writing during these past four months, I thought I’d fill you in on what I have been doing.  April was a busy month at work so a great deal of my time was devoted to that. During my down time, one of my good friends visited, the hubs and I visited with friends, and spent my birthday weekend in Philly and New York. He took me to see Wicked on Broadway! The show was just as amazing and spectacular as everyone has described it.

May was rather uneventful as my husband started his new job and it was my last full month of school, so we were both pretty consumed with work. We did find time to attend a wine festival and hike up Old Rag Mountain. I loved getting back to nature and the hike was just the right amount of strenuous. Unfortunately it was an extremely foggy day so we did not get the gorgeous views one would normally find on top. Guess that means we’ll just have to hike it again later!

June marked the ending of the school year – finally! While I enjoy my job most days, by the end of the school year, I am ready for the much-needed summer break. I ushered in the summer with a trip to Rehoboth Beach with a few of my ladies. It was a fantastic weekend – as college friends and sorority sisters, we reminisced about the old days while making new memories. At the end of the month, another one of my college friends [and sorority sister] came to visit for the weekend. We went out like we did in college, visited a vineyard for some wine tasting, and went to a country concert [Chris Young, Lee Brice, and Brad Paisley – Lee Brice is my fave!].  In between those two wonderful weekends, I came down with an awful summer cold that had me down for the count for a whole week. [Go figure, I work with kids all year and don’t get sick, but the second I’m away from them, I get rocked with the worst cold I have had in years.]

July was a jam packed month. We had a 4^th of July barbecue, visit from my husband’s family, attended the wedding of one of our closest friends, and made a trip to western PA to visit my family. Scattered between those two were local get-togethers with friends in the area. 

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Cherry Blossoms in DC, Rehoboth Beach, Virginia Wine Festival, Cherry Blossom petals blanketing the ground, Sunset at a country concert, Wicked on Broadway, Foggy hike up Old Rag Mountain, DC United game, Super moon, Vineyard in Loudoun County, VA, Junior's cheesecakes in Brooklyn, and Western PA

While the summer has been extremely busy, I still feel like I have let much of it go to waste. I think this is because most of the fun happens between Friday and Monday. During the rest of the week, I have checked a few to-do’s off of my home list, learned to cook a few new dishes, hung out with my pups, and spent plenty of time relaxing.

Now, my summer is coming to an end and I only have one more week before work obligations take over. I am determined to make it count!

It's been a while...

Wow.  I kind of fell off of the blogosphere. I had every intention of contributing to the blog at least twice per week, but then life happened. I missed two entire months, and two of my favorite months of the year at that! Let’s give this another try.

While I was out....

October – Student teaching & grad school have consumed my life. I feel like every waking moment is spent lesson planning, teaching, or writing papers. I managed to make it to one Halloween party where some friends and I were the cast of Grey’s Anatomy. I was Addison Montgomery, visiting from L.A. of course. I missed the Northeast terribly, but was able to enjoy a few cool days at the end of October. I supplemented my yearning for Northeastern autumns with pumpkin spice coffee daily and comfort food, a la turkey pumpkin chili –mmm! That’s my October in a nutshell. 

I also took some time on October 8th to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I roasted a turkey breast and served it with all of the fixins' - yum!

November came and went in one big blur. I honestly do not recall doing much of anything outside of student teaching and graduate school. ‘Tis the life of a student teacher.  I was able to escape all of my schoolwork to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. We went to Kings’ grandmother’s house and shared a wonderful meal and many laughs with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and my mother-in-law. It was a terrific holiday.

Oh, and I managed to get out there and vote on November 6th. Politics aside, voting to me is an inspirational experience. To know that we live in a country where we get a voice, a voice that so many of our ancestors fought long and hard to be heard - we get a voice.

Sometime during the two months, I managed to make one fall craft – an autumn banner. Incredibly simple DIY project. I bought wooden letters from the craft store, painted them various colors, hot glued them on twine, then added a couple Styrofoam pumpkins when it was hung.

And voila!

A simple autumn banner made my Florida apartment feel just a little more like fall.