April Showers

Just like that - we are in April and let me tell you, the April showers have showed up and showed out! The weekend ended with rain and there was a rain in each day, all weekend long. In spite of the on-and-off dreariness, the weekend was actually really lovely and was filled with great memories made!

I had a rough week at work (everything is okay - just one of those weeks) and Ryan brought me the most gorgeous flowers home! He is truly the best man and I am so blessed that he's mine. Friday night was pretty low-key for us; Ryan picked up a pizza on the way home (yahoo for a 50% off promo from Domino's) and we finished the show The Residence on Netflix! I'd highly recommend it, especially if shows like Sherlock or anything detective/whodunit-related are your thing!

It was so nice to have no agenda on Saturday morning! I didn't sleep in quite as late as I'd have liked to, but just knowing I could lay in the bed if I wanted to was enough. After some coffee and breakfast, Ryan and I headed out do a little Spring shopping, and I showed him some of the places in Martinsburg that I discovered recently. 

We went to one of Ryan's favorite places - Tractor Supply, ha-ha! And then I showed him Westwood Charm Boutique, Bank Books and Jordan & Hess on the Square in Martinsburg. Since we'd both ate a smaller breakfast, we decided to try Crosswinds Cafe, which is situated overlooking the regional airport in Martinsburg, which shares a runway with the National Guard Base. Airplanes were taking off and landing throughout our lunch (which was quite yummy) and I imagine it was a bit busier than usual since it was guard drill weekend!

Our next stop was Orr's Farm Market; which I'd heard so many great things about! It absolutely didn't disappoint... especially because the peach trees were in bloom and were absolutely divine! The market was filled with gorgeous plants and blooms, homemade cakes and pies, coffee, handmade pet treats, fresh fruits and veggies, soup mixes, snack items, tons of WV-branded things and of course, tons of gifting options! I'm sure in the Fall, this place is "the" place to be for pumpkins, hay rides and more! 

I couldn't resist dragging Ryan into the peach orchards to take some pictures and I've since found out that while the peach blossoms are in bloom, the apple blossoms will be blooming very soon! I sense some more pictures in our future! I'm sure Ryan is thrilled! 

After a quick pop into Super Shoes and Wal-Mart for groceries, we headed home and I took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and spent some time reading in my hammock! I got a little surprise when I noticed movement to my left and discovered Spook sitting in the grass! The little fiends have figured out how to slide the screen door open and they'd slid the door open and crept out into the backyard! We let them explore a little bit before herding them back inside and latching the screen door... as you can see, Spook was confused as to why his sassy paws couldn't get it open again! 

The stormy weather rolled in on Saturday night and I made a comfort meal for us - copycat KFC bowls with mashed potatoes, corn, gravy and popcorn chicken. Ryan started watching a "guy movie" and I took a bubble bath and painted my toenails... all the girly things! It was lovely to fall asleep to the sounds of rain, knowing I was snug and warm in our home! 

Sunday morning we headed to second service and after attending the service, we were up for greeting! The weather turned chilly with even more rain and crazy wind - so while greeting, I did my best to race around with the giant umbrella and walk people to the doors of church! I got some chilly toes in the process, but somehow I survived! We headed home shortly before 1 and Ryan took a nap since he'd felt a little under the weather all weekend... I ate a little leftovers for lunch and then doodled in my planner, with some help from Maverick... ha!

Since the weather was rainy and chilly (again) - soup was a perfect supper! I made a Chicken Corn Chowder with Red Pepper for dinner and it was great! Hearty and filling, and of course, very warming on a chilly evening! I slapped my new West Virginia sticker on my coffee mug for work, got the house all organized and ready, and we headed to bed early to end the weekend! Such a lovely weekend! 

Whisker Wednesday

My silly boys - Maverick is always up for nibbling anything and everything - too bad chewing on the corner of the book won't make the story come alive for him. Spook always wants to help with the cooking and keeps me on my toes, making sure his toe (beans) don't get too close to the stove! 

We purchased some cat grass for them - it's supposed to help with digestion! I couldn't believe how quickly they jumped at the opportunity to munch on their little plant! Now every night after dinner, the have their very own cat grass dessert - and they are loving it!

The Final Weekend of March

Let me first say that I am starting this with some non-weekend activities, because on Wednesday the 26th, I had the day off and my sweet Momma came to visit with me all day long - and we set off and explored Martinsburg. Let me tell you what a delight that was! We discovered some true gems! 

First & foremost; if you are ever cruising along the 81-N corridor heading toward Maryland or Pennsylvania and need a quick stop for a treat, look no further than Apple Annie's Bakery at WV exit 13! This little bakery is right off the exit, has coffee and the most divine cookies I've ever had - it's a no brainer for a treat for any occasion! Let me highly recommend the Lemon Delight cookie - YUM!

After our pop into the bakery, we headed into downtown and discovered some true gems! Jordan and Hess has a little bit of everything: decorations, jewelry, clothes, gift items, food items... and they have a coffee shop inside the store! I will definitely be returning to this precious place! We also found Bank Books - a used bookstore in an old bank; they even having a reading room in the old vault! The clothes and gifts at Westwood Charm Boutique are perfection and DeFluri's Chocolates is an absolute dream! It was such a great day and we popped into some other amazing stores before lunch at Brix 27!

It was wonderful to have a day off mid-week but when I returned to work on Thursday morning - I had seventy-four emails! What in the world?!? I know Ryan and I were both happy to see Friday arrive and have no agenda for Friday evening - we made our own pizzas and watched some episodes of The Residence on Netflix. We also watched Spook wiggle and wind himself into numerous silly positions on his window hammock, ha-ha!

Saturday had a nice slow start - those days are always good to have, especially after what felt like a busy week for both Ryan and I! We started our laundry, had some breakfast and just chilled for a little bit before getting ready to go to the Nationals game in DC. We left a little earlier than we needed to - and thank goodness for that! I'll get to that later, but we stopped in Urbana, MD on the way to have some BBQ at Black Hogg BBQ and it was delicious! 

This weekend was peak bloom for the cherry blossoms in DC - and while our GPS showed that traffic would be crazy, I don't think we realized just how crazy! What was meant to be a 90-minute drive turned into just over three hours... with the additional 90 minutes spent in probably the final 4-5 miles of the drive. The cars were bumper-to-bumper and people were driving like they had no sense at all! I would say it was nerve-wracking, but that would be an understatement! 

I originally wondered if we'd even make it before the game started - and while we did miss the first pitch, we were at least inside the park before the top of the first inning was over. So I guess that's a plus because given how terrible the traffic was, I was honestly surprised we made it when we did! We were happily deposited into our seats by the time the second inning started... and it was then I realized two things...

We were surrounded by Philadelphia Phillies fans. And let me tell you - they are obnoxious, to say the least. If you're a Phillies fan and you aren't obnoxious, I'm sorry. But your fellow fans were really giving you a bad look, if I do say so myself. We had a guy that would scream at us when we cheered for a Nationals home run (we had three)... and he would randomly stand up and scream "E-A-G-L-E-S - EAGLES" and I can't help but wondering if he didn't realize that we were actually at a baseball game and not at a football game. *eye roll* He also yelled "you suck, you suck" at the Nationals. Which; in my humble opinion, mean fans suck more - but whatever.

The team has a lot of promise! While we didn't win, I did see some positives to our team! We have some solid hitters and great position players but the one negative that stood out pretty glaringly - our bullpen is a little bit of a disaster! It doesn't matter if you can hit well when your relief pitchers throw the game away... *sigh* 

The 2025 season is the National's twentieth season here in DC (they were the Expos in Montreal before moving to DC in 2005) and the stadium has been updated with lots of things that reflect that! I loved the posters around the stadium with key moments in the Nationals twenty year history; I'm sure I didn't find all of them because I didn't even get around the entire stadium with this visit! I'm sure there is plenty more to take in - which is good since we have at least four more games, maybe more! 

The Nationals didn't win the game - *sigh* - but the game was enjoyable, for the most part. The Phillies fans made it less than thrilling and I think I've decided I don't have much interest in visiting the Phillies' ballpark for a game anytime soon. Thankfully the traffic heading home wasn't nearly as bad as the traffic coming into DC and we were even able to spy the cherry blossoms circling the Tidal Basin from our position on 695 as we headed homeward! What a win! I usually am pretty adamant about getting into DC to see the cherry blossoms - it's such an incredible experience - but this year, especially with all that traffic... I just didn't have the interest. Plus, we saw them last year and they'll be back next year, ha!

The weather on Saturday was pretty much perfection - warm but not too hot and sunshine on and off. That glorious weather continued into Sunday, with blue skies, breezes and temperatures hovering around the mid-80's! We enjoyed church, grabbed some groceries and then grabbed some Panda Express before heading home for a little while. I had a little bit of a headache and so I rested a bit before we set out once again...

We made a Costco run - always fun but slightly dangerous, ha-ha! And then we headed to my parent's house to visit a bit since they left for a trip to Guatemala yesterday! We popped over to the Virginia State Arboretum to check out the daffodils before getting Mexican for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - everything was delicious! It was a beautiful weekend and Spring is really starting to shine.