I've Made it a Month....

It's hard to believe but I've been in Virginia; as of yesterday, for an entire month - holy cow. I'm a day behind on my post but yesterday was filled with sleep and spending time with Lindsey since she's finally returned home from being abroad for a million years...just kidding, she was only gone about thirty-five days, but it seemed like a million years to me. I digress....some pictures and tales of the week past, leading up to Lindsey's return home!

We really are trying SO hard to teach him not to beg....granted, I don't think the lessons are sticking.

I just stay in a state of fascination when we go to Wal-Mart...mostly because I'm a nerd but a little bit because you can buy cake pops & that's just cool. 

One of the things I've discovered since getting here is that there are so many grocery stores in this area and I absolutely love exploring them because I guess I'm a food nerd - I don't know. I haven't been able to get back to Wegman's yet and in my eyes, Wegmans is a perfect 10 and for that reason all the other grocery stores we go into are measured on a scale of 1 - Wegmans...which cracks my Mom up. Martin's is ranking at a solid 9 because they have a card they scan when you buy grocery there; for each dollar spent you get a point and each point adds up to money towards gas and that is pretty spectacular in my opinion. I've also discovered Aldi, which is inexpensive (like, seriously inexpensive...it's crazy) and has some interesting things to pick from. I might be shopping at Aldi once I get in my own place; the prices are hard to beat!

A Watermelon sherbet roll - courtesy of Aldi!

Just hunting golf balls in the wild....

Dad and I went on an "adventure" on Tuesday, which I elaborated on in much greater detail in a post all it's own. I included some pictures from Tuesday below but you can definitely check out the most recent post (previous to this one) to see pictures and tales from that little outing.

The gardens at Glen Burnie house - so pretty, even in the blazing heat!

Statues absolutely everywhere....which I really loved.

I mean, so pretty. I could wander for hours...on a day when it was in the 90's.

Pretty flowers!

Pretty flowers - Part Two

Watson watches Designing Women - such a goofball!

The Chef with his overflowing creation - at least it tasted delicious, right?

The "girls" came over on Thursday night to have dinner - my Mom calls them the girls, I call them J-Squared
because their names are Jen and Jenni and that just makes sense to me. Jenni brought her precious little boy, Jimmy who cracks me up and after we ate, the two of us took Watson for a walk and to go on a golf ball hunt. Jimmy cracked me up because when he'd find a golf ball, he would hold it out and look at me, saying "so, do you need to put this golf ball in your wagon or do you think I should keep this one?" Ha-ha, silly boy! He kept the two golf balls that we found and of course, posed with all the golf balls that I think we've ever found. I should have taken a picture with Jen since Thursday night was the last night she was preggers, but oh well!

This silly boy looking like he's about to have some alien babies!

Watson in a moment of indecision - to climb the stairs or not climb the stairs?

A free Slurpee on 7/11 from Seven Eleven - amazing! 

Quite simply the best postcard I've ever received...I love it!

Friday afternoon some kind of animal had taken up residence under the hedges outside the front of our house and each time we passed the hedges, there was a growling sound coming from the bushes. Of course, Watson was so interested in what was under the hedges that he thought he'd about break his neck to see what was there - and I was making sure he wasn't finding out because my Mom told me the first week here that sometimes skunks have gotten under there - and I mean, no thanks. My Mom took Watson out at about 5 on Friday evening and was convinced that whatever was under the hedges was gone but she soon learned differently when Watson got too close and a cat came flying from the hedge, claws out and teeth bared while her kittens dove out of the other side of the hedge yowling and hissing! Watson dove at them and my Mom almost got her finger taken off trying to wrangle him away from the cats - and for the rest of the night, all Watson wanted to do was go outside!

Monitoring the situation in the hedge....all DAY LONG.

Sweet miss Amelia Jane stopped by to see me on the way home from the hospital - such a sweetheart!

Absolutely adorable & hanging on to my finger with her teeny little hand. 

Have you ever seen such sweetness?? Her new nickname = Squeaky!

Saturday night was eventful to say the least - Lindsey's flight from Germany came in at Dover AFB around 11:30 on Saturday night....and Dover is about three hours from our house. So after meeting sweet Amelia, my Mom and I loaded into the car and drove to Delaware to pick up Lindsey and her friend Laura. I made up all kind of stories as we cruised down the road; eventually creating my own little Children of the Corn style tale that obviously freaked my Mom out a good bit because she finally told me to hush up...ha-ha! I'd wait just a bit and then keep elaborating on my story, much to the delight of my Mom. 

I also stopped (in the middle of Children of the Corn land) to let me post with the Delaware sign - she said she wouldn't have been getting out of the car after all the lovely tales I'd been spinning but it didn't bother me too much. Granted, after we passed the sign there was a whole herd of deer and of course, my Mom immediately says "well you would have just died if you'd been standing out by that sign in the dark and a deer nudged you in the butt - huh?" Oh me...

First time in Delaware - at least, I guess that's me....it might be one of the Children of the Corn...

Lindsey unpacks the souvenirs....

My awesome Hootie bag, brought all the way from Italy!

A "cat tongue" chocolate - from Belgium! 

Of course, we went on a Sunday afternoon adventure - even though Mom, Lindsey and I had come in and gone to bed at around 4 AM and then gotten up at 9(ish) to go keep nursery at church. A short power nap was all we really needed after lunch and then we decided we'd venture into the National Park to get some blackberry ice cream that my Mom had talked about almost non-stop all afternoon. On the way, we saw a black bear and her two cubs - which was awesome and was actually the first time my parents have seen a black bear since they've been living in VA. So, I guess I'm a point ahead on that one! Also, my Mom did NOT oversell the blackberry ice cream, it was absolutely delicious!

There were 2 babies - but they were too small to really capture on a cell phone camera!

The Shenandoah Valley from the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Blackberry ice cream - oh yes, it was divine.

She found a Coke that almost had her name on it - and almost was good enough!

Happy to have my bestie back!

And....that's all there is to it for this week. Until next time, adios!