Life in the Valley

Last weekend, Maddi (who I ran RnR VA Beach with - we met in college) came to the Valley again to visit. As always, we planned all kinds of amazingness into one weekend. 

We started the weekend with drinks with friends downtown (at my favorite place!). 

The next morning we got the day started with Apple Donuts (and Cider & Starbucks)

Then Apple Picking! 

Then after a quick trip to Lululemon, we grabbed sushi and went to cheese class. Yep, we learned to make our own Mozzarella! 

After cheese class we made hummus and spinach artichoke pasta! 

The next morning we went for a great run and then hiked & relaxed at the top of the trail.

After hiking we dined on sushi & cheese (a surprisingly good combo) before Maddi headed back home. Can't wait for the next visit!

The last weekend of July, Babe & I finally had our first official "guest" to come spend the weekend at our house. It only took 2.5 years (that is what happens when you never leave "home" & all of your friends parents still live here). After the long awaited arrival of our first weekend guest, all I can say is we <3 having guests come visit.

My friend from JMU, Maddi, came to visit and we had a blast. We hiked, we played at the river, we went wine tasting, had brunch and EVEN milked a cow by hand... we know how to plan a weekend. Heck, we even ran 2X while she was here (I'm running the half marathon with her in September!).

We loved it and can't wait for our next guests (or for Maddi to hurry up and come back again!!).

Thanks to Maddi for the awesome photos! 

At the top of Humpback Rocks Hike

Milking a cow by hand!

Drinking Raw Milk - yum!!!

Roasting Marshmallows

Wine @ Barren Ridge Vineyards

Sunday Fun

Sunday Andy took a vacation day that would be soon expiring. We didn’t make any plans ahead of time, but the day worked out perfectly all on its own.

First, it was my normal 6am Sunday run in the park. I went for a 6 mile run (in some new running gear from my mom, early birthday present!). The weather was great (not too hot) and I am in love with my new socks mom bought me (more on the new running gear later).

Then we joined some friends to hike Humpback Rocks. I had never hiked Humpback… honestly I’ve done very little hiking in my life. I’ve never been super “Outdoorsy” but I’ve been working on changing that. My very large fear of snakes (think near panic attacks at the thought of snakes) almost kept me from going but I conquered my fear (for the day) and went.  {I thanked God we did not see any on our hike}. The hike was great – it definitely made me sweat on the way up (think straight up for about a mile). It worked muscles that I don’t normally work, which felt great! The view at the top was gorgeous. Thanks to our friends for inviting us and being more prepared than we were (with backpacks, snacks and bug spray).

After the river & a quick lunch at home, we took the dogs to the river. My mom & nephews joined for a bit. Andy’s mom & stepdad did as well. And then we had some friends (who are getting married in November!) stop in for awhile. We spent the afternoon just lazing in our chairs, watching the dogs & kids play and working on our tan a little (we spent more time in the shade!). It was the perfect ending to our day.

We must’ve been pretty worn out since we went home, ate a little supper and then fell asleep for an hour or so! Oops! After a rough week (broken lawn mower, broken a/c), it was exactly what we needed.