On our way!

It's officially here!!! The trip that's been in the works for about a year is finally underway.

I managed to get ten days worth of clothes and toiletries into a carry on and a back pack. I was super impressed with this accomplishment!

I woke up early this morning to get a nice 10 miler in and take Piper on a walk to spend a little quality time with her before leaving. Hopefully the early morning will make it easier to sleep on the plane later!

Piper got dropped off at my parents and I've been informed that she has already jumped in their pool several times. I don't think she's going to miss us too terribly much, do you?

Now Mark and I are checked in and waiting for the rest of his family to get to the airport! We will be headed to NYC and then off to London around 7pm tonight! If you think of us, say a prayer for  a safe flight and being able to sleep! I'm anxious about this flight for some reason!   Thanks! 

Talk to you soon from Europe! 

Europe Trip: Days 1-3 in the UK!

Cheers from England! 

We've spent 2 whole days in the UK so far and are enjoying every minute! (I wrote a post in the airport as we were getting ready to leave but just realized it never published! But it's up now :)) 

Our plane ride across the pond was uneventful. We just didn't get as much sleep as we were hoping for! 

We arrived in London Heathrow airport at 1am our time but 6 am here! At that point I was at 20 hours of little to no sleep. But because we wanted to avoid jet lag for the rest of our trip,our friends that picked us up did a wonderful job of keeping us up until 9pm that night! Which was about 

31 hours of not sleeping! It was a struggle and our heads were definitely bobbing during the car rides as we tried to fight sleep but it was worth it! Today we felt as good as new! 

We made a very American stop right after we left the airport :) we were starving and tired! We needed a little something easy to pick us up before the sight seeing! 

 Stonehenge! What a privilege to be able to look at something that was constructed by ancient civilizations... Not a replica but the actual thing that they built! And such a mysterious one too!

Mark fought the sleep the best he could but the hour long van ride made sleep sooo enticing! 

Sunday Roast at the local pub in Oundle, England! The small town where our friends live and where we've spent the first 2 days.

We visited Norfolk Lavender Farms! (Left Norfolk,VA to come to Norfolk, England!) I got some essential oils and soaps!

We visited Norfolk Beach as well! It was low tide so the beach stretched out for miles it seemed! We couldn't even see the water but it was cool walking on what is usually the ocean floor.

We ended the night with Fish and Chips! The best around we were told ;) and it actually was pretty delicious! Although not a fan of how the British don't serve ice in their drinks haha I love ice in my soda! But I managed :)

Tomorrow we are up early to catch the tube into London! Lots of sight seeing and walking! 

Sending love from the UK, 

Meg

 

Swim.Bike.Run.

Remember not too long ago when I shared My First Triathlon experience?

I finally got the professional photos!

I look miserable in all of them. Haha. And they have the large water mark on them because I didn't have the money to buy them... but I like looking at them. It motivates me in that "if you did that then you can do this" sort of way. And also the "Run fatty Run" sort of way because MAN my thighs are looking rough in these pictures. : )

Carrots!

I don't think my carrots are quite as ready to be picked as I had hoped...

I was going to pull all of them up tonight but after I pulled up this first little guy, I decided I better leave them in the ground for a while longer...

Right? Or is this pretty much as big as I can expect them to grow?

How are you supposed to tell?!?! 

Time to do some researching on homegrown carrots!

Summer Outdoor Projects Update!

Remember our Outdoor Projects we started back in April?

I'm so excited about how they've developed over the summer... despite my lack of a green thumb.

The front yard flower bed... my Lilies finally bloomed as well!

My Raised Garden Bed! 

Haha okay, so I know it looks a little crazy. And it is. There's definitely not enough room for all that I planted in it. I'm trying to get my cucumbers to grow up the lattice but its not really working. The cucumbers would much rather spill over the sides. But thats okay - I like cucumbers... so they can just keep growing to their hearts content wherever they'd like.

Here are some of my first fruits. :)

I know the picture doesn't show this too well, but that cucumber is HUGE! I was a little afraid when I saw it in the garden. It had fallen out of the garden bed between the bed and fence and so it had gone unnoticed for probably a couple weeks now! Thankfully I found it and picked it before it grew into the mutant cucumber. ; )

Oh and one more update!

Remember the Bathroom Project that Mark worked on for me while I was participating in the triathlon??

I'm thrilled with how it turned out! It was a royal pain in the butt - but its done. Seriously, my husband is so good to me. I would've given up without him. In fact there was a moment when we were trying to put the shelves up and the wall just wouldn't hold the screws securely - I was so frustrated I walked out of the bathroom, sat down and started to cry. 

That's how much of a struggle this bathroom make over was!

The shelves were the final touches and I just wanted them to be hung up without a hitch.

Mark was the hero though, he just kept working despite my emotional responses and we eventually got the shelves up. : ) Praise God for the differences between men and women, right?

4th of July Weekend

Mark and I enjoyed a nice long 4 day weekend last week for the 4th of July holiday since we both had Friday off. I started thinking about it, and I'd have to say Independence Day definitely makes my top 3 favorite holiday list. (The other two favorites being Easter and Christmas!)








I am proud to be an American; grateful that I was born here in the United States. Whenever 4th of July comes around I more often than not get stopped in my tracks as I think about the men and families that risked their lives to establish this nation hundreds of years ago. I become overwhelmed with respect and admiration for their courage and faith. Could you imagine being in the situations they were in? It truly blows my mind when I think about it. It gives you sense of how your actions can affect generations to come. I am so thankful for what they did for us and what people who serve this country continue to do for us.

Moving on. :)

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the atmosphere of Independence Day celebrations! First of all its Summer, so the mood is generally more relaxed. And whats not to like about Cook Outs, Family, Games, Parades, Fireworks, Sparklers, and Americana everywhere... including in the food!

It just makes for a fun day.



Pinterest Inspired Creation.

Fruit pizza is always delicious.

Family getting ready to enjoy the local firework show!

The Friday after Independence day Mark and I had my cousins and their wives come stay with us for the weekend. Remember "My Boys" that I told you about? Yea, they were the ones that came! And they brought their 6 month old black lab puppy and 4 month old great dane puppy. You can imagine our house was pretty full with 8 people and 3 energetic pups, but we had a blast. We got to enjoy the beach and some more family cookouts. My cousin Tim and his wife Leah also announced that they were expecting their first child, they've been married about 8 months :) Isn't that precious? My baby fever probably spiked a few degrees hearing their news and talking to them over the weekend haha. Mark and I are still praying about God's timing for trying to start a family, but I'm hoping it will be soon. : ) We didn't get many pictures together, I'm so bad about taking time to stop and get pictures! The few we did take were of our adorable puppies of course. haha

Leah helping the puppies down the slide. :)

Good puppies waiting for their treats!

{The 2 black ones to the right of Piper are my Sister's and my Parent's family dogs, they came to visit one night for a cookout. 5 dogs in one backyard = lots of laughs. Bonus? Piper slept for days after their visit. ;) }

Piper and her cousin Griffin!

We spent a lot of time on our back deck just hanging out. :)

We're hoping to visit the cousins up where they live near Philly sometime this fall. Until then, Mark and I are looking forward to our Europe Vacay!!! Coming up in only 2 weeks!

Did I mention I was proud to be an American? :)