Where We Live

St. Mary's County...

Initially, when I first heard we were moving to Southern Maryland, I was excited for a change of scenery. Although, in January as we began to settle into our new home, I realized Southern Maryland is a lot like eastern North Carolina. There's plenty of farm land, country accents are not only accepted but also encouraged, and tractor pulls are prevalent (just a side note: I've never, ever been to a tractor pull in my life). We are close to D.C., Annapolis, and Baltimore which are all bustling cities that make for awesome day trips. But don't count out our new home turf for fun and entertainment.

I think Matt and I discover something new to do each month, and we are learning that Southern Maryland has tons to offer! Just this week we experienced the county fair and all its glory. It was not much different than Nash or Wilson County fairs. We enjoyed funnel cakes, candied apples, and we were able to pet some of the finest, award-winning farm animals in the county.

There are several wineries in and around St. Mary's County. Yesterday we finally visited Woodlawn Farm and enjoyed a wine tasting. The farm was gorgeous, and the wine was great! We will most definitely be visiting again soon. I can't wait to tour other wineries in the area.

The fair!

cute little sheered sheep

and big Clydesdales 

how to eat a funnel cake...

giant pumpkin, funnel cake (half cinnamon sugar/ half powdered sugar), me and chickens, Matt and a caramel apple

yummy food at Spinnakers

Point Lookout Marina

Woodlawn Farm (Slack wine tasting) 

the wine connoisseur  

Slack wine

love wine tastings

We're enjoying where we live and continuing to explore new places every week! My only complaint and one huge difference between Eastern NC and St. Mary's County: no boiled peanuts. I have been craving them since June! Surely, the fair would have boiled peanuts, right?! No. No boiled peanuts at the fair, on the side of the road, at the local convenient store, or anywhere for that matter. I am shocked, so I guess I'll be making my own boiled peanuts this year...

The Good, The Bad, & The Awesome

A recap of last week with Instagram and the good, the bad, and the just plain awesome!

The Good

. Buying a new TV (it’s a big one…)
. Cute little Flip butt poking out of the covers

. Discovering new online shopping sites like Uncovet

. Making awkward faces to see baby smiles and laughter

. Stalking a bench at Marshall's for over a month, and it finally going on Clearance…

. Starting Christmas shopping early...Oh yes, I most certainly have.

. Pictures of husband in uniform ;)

 

 

The Bad

. When no one listens to you at Trivia although you were right

. Waiting in line 30 minutes at the Commissary, because you have 5 more items than allowed in order to use to the “Express” lane

. Husband loses debit card

. Husband doesn’t seem to care debit card is missing…

. The bar stools I ordered still haven’t arrived even though I keep checking the shipment process and they were supposed to arrive like forever ago...

. Returning library books 2 minutes late...grr!

 

 

The AWESOME

. The TV is mounted on the wall!! (Yes, I might be a little too excited about this)
. Cute mugs from friends asking Matt to be a groomsman in their wedding!!

. Making ridiculously good panang curry with sweet potatoes

. Launch is back every Sunday evening

. Three day weekends

. Running over three miles without walking!

. New TV premieres…I can’t wait to watch Revolution tonight.

. The arrival of fall-like weather

"And may the odds be ever in your favor."

As I mentioned in my Monday post, this past Sunday was our church's youth fall kickoff event. Matt and I began volunteering with the youth soon after we moved to Maryland. We've had a blast getting to know the kids and making great friends with other youth leaders. Matt and I were tasked with the adventure to host the first annual "Southpoint Student Ministries Hunger Games" where only the silliest, craziest, and frankly the hungriest survive! 

Matt and I dressed in our best Haymitch and Effie attire, and I donned my finest British accent. We divided the youth into districts 9, 10, 11, & 12. 



Let the games begin...
'Cinna'mon Toast Crunch Easting Contest: We gave one student from each district (boys first round, girls second round) a cup of cinnamon toast crunch (no milk). Whoever ate it the fastest won!

Next...
Peeta Flip: Two students from each district put swim flippers on their feet. Then they put pita bread on the flipper, flipped it up in the air, and without using their hands, tried to toss it through a fellow district member's arms. Unfortunately no pictures... 



We ended with a group game...
Arena Style Paper, Rock, Scissors...except we did Sword, Bow, Beast: Sword beats beast, beast beats bow, bow beats sword. Teams met in the middle of the "arena," counted down, and did their chosen motion. Whoever lost ran back to their side while they were chased by the winning district. Whoever was tagged on the losing team had to join the winning district.

It was an awesome time! Matt and I are both looking forward to a new year with the youth! I can only imagine what great things God has in store for not only the kids, but for Matt and me.

"Can I take your trash?"

We had yet another fabulous weekend. I am so happy that Matt and I had the opportunity to spend some time with Sarah and her boyfriend, Alex. Sarah and I were able to pick up right where we left off when we last saw each other. It’s really great knowing I have friends like Sarah. No matter the distance between us, we will always share a special bond that only grows stronger as time passes. They didn’t arrive until late Friday evening which was perfectly fine with me, because our apartment needed a thorough cleaning. Sure, you can call me anal.… Matt knows just how OCD I can be about particular things, i.e. the dishwasher, how to fold towels, and how to make our bed (just to name a few… wink, wink).


I also made "dump" cake while waiting for Sarah & Alex
to arrive!

On Saturday we left Lexington Park around 11:30 a.m. to head to the Nationals game in D.C. We were all impressed, especially with our lunch! Since we didn’t have an opportunity to eat before the game, we decided we would just settle for vendor food. Although, we didn’t have to settle at all! They have a restaurant out in center field called Red Porch. We were all surprised at how affordable the menu was and how delicious everything tasted, not to mention we were seated in center field with an excellent view of the game.

 

The game was rain delayed in the 9^th inning, so we didn’t get to see the end of the game. Instead we bought $5 ponchos and made a mad dash for the metro. I think that was the best $5 we spent the entire night. Until that awkward moment later in the evening when Sarah is holding the ponchos and a waiter asks her if she would like him to throw out her trash… classy.

 

We made it back home that night by 10:30 p.m., but we were all so exhausted that we passed out almost immediately after walking through the door. I think we all caught a glimpse of the grumpy, tired Matt. He’s a completely different person. It’s scary and funny all at the same time.

We spent Sunday morning at church. Afterwards made a quick stop by a local farmer’s market and ate lunch at Blue Wind. Sarah and Alex left shortly after lunch. It was sad to see them go, but we had such a great time together.

 

Sarah, I can’t wait until your next visit. J

 

On a side note, Matt and I had an eventful Sunday evening with all the Southpoint Church students at Launch, but I think I’ll save that for later. It deserves its own post!

I heart Fridays

This is a list of some of the things I love about Fridays:

. It's the end of the work week... Obviously. :)

. The fact that I get every other Friday off

. Thinking about how my family used to spend every Friday night eating at my Grandma and Papa’s house… :)

. New movies to see

. People are generally happier on Friday.

. Planning fun and exciting things to do on my days off...

. Or I can plan to just be outright lazy for a weekend (we all need lazy days).

. When Matt’s not on duty, he comes home on Fridays!!

. Now that I’m working, this is usually one of the only days I cook an actual meal, and I like cooking. 

. Entertaining and hanging out with friends

. Laundry gets done!

. And last but not least, on this particular Friday, one of my very best friends, Sarah, is visiting!

Me & Sarah way back in 2010.
Photo cred: the awesome, Millie Holloman

 

Oh, I can’t wait to catch up and pick right back up where we left off the last time I saw her. Matt took off work this weekend, and we are all going to enjoy a trip to D.C. and a Nationals game.

Now tell me, what do you love about Friday?


 

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It's the NFL, Baby!

On Wednesday evening this week, I had the opportunity to experience my first ever NFL game! I'm sure you're thinking, you... football... Yes, as a matter of fact, I like football, and I really like the NFL. So, this has been something I've wanted to do for quite some time now. I've been to plenty of baseball games, college football games, and even attended a NASCAR race (don't judge), but the NFL game is a first.

The Washington Redskins played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although, it was a preseason game, it was still a blast! Matt was on duty and couldn't come, but my friend, Kimberly was able to join me. We headed to FedEx Field after work. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, and the traffic wasn't too bad (I can only imagine how it would be during a regular season game when the stadium is packed). We still didn't get there early enough to do much tailgating, but we were determined to plop out my beach chairs just so we could say we experienced it (all 15 minutes worth)!

When we got in the stadium, the sunset was beautiful, and I was able to get this shot!

We were being silly throughout much of the game. Kimberly desperately wanted to do the wave, so she initiated it all on her own, too bad the entire stadium didn't catch on until 15 minutes later! ;)

It was a fun, fun time! Now, I'm hoping I get to attend a regular season game next!!

Well, Matt and I are on our merry way to good 'ole NC! Can't wait to spend some quality time with our families. We will be soaking up the last few days of summer, and enjoying this Labor Day weekend.