12 dates of Christmas begins... date 1

sorry i am a little late this year. 
but, alas, here is the first date. 
caleb & i were apart for two months this fall. he was in houston & i was in alexandria. 
after a 7.5 bus trip to the city i love (NYC), we were reunited, the day before thanksgiving. 
our first date of christmas was of course caleb's birthday. 
his birthday (november 27) always seems to kick off the holiday season especially since thanksgiving was so late this year. 

i can't tell you how excited i was to see my honey. the extra 3 hours to my bus ride seemed like an eternity- however, i was && am so blessed to be able to spend thanksgiving together in a magical place. 

^^^ my view going into the holland tunnel. (ahhhhh!!!!)

 ^^^ yummmmm (!!!!!) totally worth the wait for this boy. 

p.s. i can't tell you how much i loved eataly. you can shop for italian goodies && drink wine. i loved it so much we went back on sunday for my birthday, too!!

philly journey.

 

as many of you know, i signed up for the philly marathon at the end of july. it had always been a dream of mine to run 26.2 miles and I had finally gotten the courage to do it. i filled out the online registration, typed in my credit card, and with one click, my journey began.

not quite sure of what i was getting into, i began to follow a program.
for several months, i would plan my week according to the long runs, usually trying to wake up before everyone so that i didn't miss out on anything.
my alarm would go off, i would change into my running skirt, caleb would lace up his rollerblades, grab the headlamp, and we were off. two to three hours later, a mix of emotions would ring in my ears: "i can do this. 10 more miles." "stop. no more." "why did I sign up for this again?" "just do it."
"del ray donuts are waiting for you, go."

during my training, i made it up to 20 miles. caleb && i celebrated with cinnamon roll pancakes and i felt like i had truly accomplished something. my longest run ever (!!) little did i know this run would end my marathon training.  466 miles logged from the end of july to this point.

 

throughout the following week something was going on with my knee- shooting pains. i knew something was wrong. i went to the doctor, physical therapist & chiropractor. mentally i was there, physically not so much anymore

my knee continued to be in pain & i was lucky to finish five miles without walking.
at this point, i was pretty sure my dream was over.

one week ago, i cancelled my philly hotel and thought i would toss this one in the bag. it's too hard. i tried (right?)

however, a little voice in my head was again telling me, "don't give up. you can't not try this"
i immediately called my parents & caleb, and informed them- i am doing this. even if i have to walk it.
my mom & dad got on the phone, and helped me look for a hotel, anything that was open last minute. thankfully, we landed one in nj only 15 minutes away from the city.

i am so thankful i listened to the voice to persevere, and fight for my dream.

i felt so many of your prayers today and was able to finish 13.1 miles. not my original goal, yet an accomplishment that i will never take for granted. it was a miracle that i was able to finish and my knee held up. i am incredibly thankful for my dear friend Allison. she came to philly with me && even ran it by my side. i am forever grateful for her and everyone's support.

this journey has been an incredible emotional rollercoaster. however, i have learned so much through it. God never gives up on us & neither should we.

cheers to dreams and the perseverance to fight for them
(even if they may look different than the original dream)

 

 

 

in the meantime.

these are my people.

(life lately.)

 

 

 

  

" I thank my God every time I remember you." Phil. 1:3

four weeks down.

 

 

missing my sidekick these days.

4 weeks down. 4 more to go.

houston you have had him for far too long.
it's my turn.

 

now hurry, november. 



houston bound

^^^ i'm leaving on a jet plane. rain & wind go away. 

 

my honey is gone for eight weeks.

i get to see him today.

hopefully, i will bring back some cowboy boots && bbq stains

...

(that will also be the smile on my face today)

happy wet and rainy Friday!

rainy day lover

Well I'll be your rainy day lover. Whenever the sunny days end.
And whatever the weather, we have each other.
And that's how the story will end

Well I'll be your shade tree in summer.
If you'll be my fire when it's cold.
And whatever the season, well, we'll keep on breathing.
Cause we'll have each other to hold.

I'll hold you- I'll sing.

I wanna love you, forever I do.
I wanna spend all of my days with you.
I'll carry your burdens and be the wind at your back.
I wanna spend my forever - forever like that.

Well I'll be the words on the pages.
If you'll be my sweet melody.
And the tune can keep changing, cause I'll keep arranging.
And this is the song that we'll sing.

- ben rector. forever like that.

 
on my morning run, this was the first song that played through my headphones. feeling tired. not sure about the day yet. wondering why I was even up on this chilly morning. took me a second- realized, wait this is our song. our wedding song.

missing him.

&&& missing this coat. but him more.

golden delicious

october in northern virginia is ... interesting.

don't get me wrong. i love the skyline drive when the leaves start to fall.

nothing says autumn more than the row houses near eastern market && old town.

&& don't get me started on all those wreaths. deep cranberries, burnt oranges. i am in love.

however, fall seems to take a little while to get here. in terms of temperature. ninety degrees this weekend.

for some reasons, this seems a little "hot" for me. i am ready to pull out my cozy sweaters and riding boots- yet am forced to keep them at bay (unless i want to burn up- which trust me, i have thought about a time or two)

for the second year in a row, caleb & i headed to butler's orchard. we were greeted with apple cider, an assortment of pumpkins, trees adorned with golden delicious & stayman apples, and again, 90 degrees weather. i must admit, i have never been apple picking with scorching heat before living here; however, virginia, i think you must like it.

caleb && i still had fun, no flannels :( yet we made the best of it. came home with not quite so many apples (last year we brought home 22 pounds- for the both of us.... needless to say we had apple everything for about a month.)  this year, we restrained ourselves and simply ate most our apples off the trees.

we came home with 5 pounds of apples && apple cider. later enjoyed pumpkin gnocchi and spiced warm apple cider. && pretended it was sixty degrees outside which was assisted with the switch of the thermostat (sorry, caleb!)

p.s. does anyone else feel a little sick after gnocchi? i love it so much, yet always have a little tummy ache afterwards. doesn't seem to stop me.

happy october (my favorite month of the whole year). yay! here are some pictures from last year.

^^^ these always remind me of my sister, hanna. she loved these & once caleb tried them, he loved them too :)