Change

The one constant in life is change....


...I used to wake up every morning, look out the window and see trees and a slow country road...
...Now I wake up, look out the window and see a golf course, a busy highway and mountains rising in the distance...

...I used to drive to work along a flat stretch of highway....
...Now I drive over the hills and around the curves of a mountainous highway...

...I used to work a job from 8-5 every day...
...Now I work in 4 to 5 hour shifts at a part time job, still waiting on that full time job...

...I used to have an hour for lunch; a time to meet friends or leisurely run errands...
...Now, if I'm working during lunch time, I get a harried 15 minutes to suck down something...

...I used to drive home from work each day along that same flat stretch of highway...
...Now I drive over the hill and around the curves and watch the mountains get closer and closer...

...I used to talk and talk and no one thought anything of it...
...Now I talk and people tell me they love my accent, ha-ha...

...I used to be greeted by the wagging tail of a puppy when I came home...
...Now I'm greeted by that same wagging tail as well as the voices of my family...

...I used to eat supper alone, sitting on my couch...
...Now I eat supper with my family and we eat that supper at the table...

...I used to spend my weekends sleeping in and watching movies on my own...
...Now I spend my weekends traveling here and there, seeing new things and I do all of it with other people, not alone...

...I used to go to the movies by myself...
...Now; I have friends (and family) to go to the movies with...

...I used to spend my Sunday mornings in the nursery...always in the nursery, hearing a sermon and socializing with adults once every five or six weeks...
...Now I go to Sunday School and church service each week and I'm only in the nursery once every five or six weeks...

...I used to let my dog out to roam freely...
...Now I walk him on a leash every few hours...

...I used to live in Mississippi...
...Now I live in Virginia...


The one constant in life is change... I think I'm going to like change.

Ordinary and Extraordinary

I suppose the start of this past week was fairly slow - I'm looking back now at the pictures I have from the previous week and realizing that my pictures don't actually start until Tuesday night; I guess nothing too noteworthy happened between Monday morning and Tuesday evening. Obviously nothing that I felt compelled to snap a picture of.

I guess that's life in a nutshell - it's filled with moments you think are very photo worthy and other moments that just pass without notice. I suppose having the moments that pass without notice make the ones that we feel like taking pictures of all the more special. Life is the ordinary and the extraordinary weaving together to create memories along the way and these are just some pictures of the extraordinary...and maybe some of the ordinary of the past week.

Tuesday evening visitor(s) - I got to cuddle this sweetness for over an hour!

Wednesday morning sunshine...

I started designing my future living room in Ikea - one day....

Wednesday; it just so happened, I was off of work, my Dad was off work and my Mom took a mental health day. Ha-ha! I have not, in all my twenty-nine years of living ever been to an Ikea. The reason for this is mostly because I lived in Mississippi for most of my life and according to the store locator, the closest Ikea is either in Atlanta, Georgia or Houston, Texas...so yeah. That's not exactly a day trip. However, in the lovely land I'm currently living, Ikea is only 45 minutes away and so that is a day trip...so away we went. I must say, Ikea is overwhelming...but in a good way. I may have heard the Hallelujah chorus as the escalator crested at the second floor and we walked into happy furniture land - it was lovely and I spent my time carefully plotting and planning all the things I will buy when I have A) a full time job and B) a house to put things in.

We had lunch at Red Robin (yuuuuum!) and then we headed to Quantico to buy groceries; stopping off at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, which was so fascinating. We did a pretty quick pass through the museum but I could definitely go back and spend a much longer time there. The most interesting thing to see; in my humble opinion, was the flag that was raised on Iwo Jima - so amazing. I certainly don't know as much about the Marine Corp as I do the Air Force or the Navy, so I think it would be worth taking a second visit and really spending some time looking around. Plus - it's 100% free!

We should have squatted lower - oh well. Dad's hat really completes his look.

The museum & some of the planes hanging in the Atrium of the museum - so cool!

There were so many static displays - & even though they weren't "real" (obviously) they rumbled & whirred like the real thing. So neat.

The center beam of the museum's atrium...which goes through the roof and points into the sky.

So amazing - the things this flag was witness to.

The rest of the week itself passed pretty much without too much incident - just work and home and time with the family and time with the dog. The silly little dog that I discovered had found a bag of my old clothes that I was planning to donate; a bag just tossed into a corner of the basement for later, he managed to make a hole in the bag and start pulling out old sweaters and t-shirts. He made himself a little sleeping spot smack dab in the middle of my old clothes! We have struggled to entice him to stay in the basement each night to sleep but since he's decided to sleep on a pile of my clothes - we have a four night streak going! Maybe this is the key to having him sleep downstairs (have I mentioned the basement is fully finished? Please don't think we're stuffing him into a dank, dark hole because it is anything but that!) and our nights of him jail breaking are over?

He does still love to curl up on the couch like he's human or something - he is definitely spoiled rotten!

Jets "flying" in my tea!

Saturday was a gloomy, dismal sort of day - it misted and rained and was damp all day long. The weather didn't really stop my Mom and I from going out to do a couple things around town though and thankfully the weather didn't stop some events around town from taking place! The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley had a Tastes of the Valley festival and thank goodness for big white pavilion tents to shelter folks from the rain! There were vendors on hand offering samples of Route 11 potato chips, wine, cheese, cooking products, yard decor and all kinds of other things! They had a room in the museum where you could sample local produce - almost anything you could imagine, it was on the table. They even had a tasting room where you could sample local flowers...they showed you how to use edible flowers in your cooking! We had lunch at a diner/bakery called Bonnie Blue (it was delicious) and stopped at two Farmer's Markets on the way home. Not a bad Saturday at all - even if it was gloomy!

Oh the bounty of the Earth!

It takes the phrase "want a bud with that?" to a whole different place!

The gloomy streets of Winchester on Saturday!

Sunday passed pretty quickly as well - my Mom and I had nursery at church and that's always an adventure; this time was no exception. We spent Sunday afternoon visiting our friend Jenni and her little boy Jimmy - he caught a pig at the Shenandoah County Fair and wanted us to come see his new little friend...who will supposedly be made into bacon in late February or March! One thing I know for sure after visiting the little pig? I'm certainly not what you'd call a "country" girl...no pigs for this girl, no thanks!

Who knew a 4 year old could spin this thing around so fast?

My Mom snapped this picture at just the right moment - ha-ha! I don't do "wild" animals!

Jimmy is obviously a pig farmer in the making, ha-ha!

The river view from our friend's back yard - so pretty.

So - that's all for now. Another week has passed and it was filled with more than I thought; I managed to write a lot more than I thought I would. Since I've been typing away at this computer for the past hour, I should probably go and take my little dog on an ordinary walk...

Movern Park - It's Basically the American Downton Abbey...

Another Sunday afternoon makes for another chance to out and see the sights - I've seen people remark before that my parents seem like they don't ever just stop and sit still and that's right...they don't. I've been caught up in that since I moved here and now that I'm here, I understand why they don't stop. There is far too much to see in this area! I mean, when antebellum mansions, Civil War battlefields and National parks are all just a stone's throw away, wouldn't you be going too?

My parents had a Groupon for an antebellum home in Leesburg (about 40 minutes from our house) called Movern Park and the Groupon was a tour for four. Sadly, we were lacking our fourth but since the coupon had to be used before the end of the year, we decided Sunday afternoon was as good a time as any and we headed out. I didn't google the place before we left and really had no clue what we were going to see, so when we parked and made our way through the gardens to the house, I was a little bit shocked. It's huge!

The Davis House at Movern Park

Hello - it's gorgeous! When can I move in?

The tour we were scheduled for wasn't until 4 and so we had about fifteen minutes to kill before reporting back to the house to take the tour. We walked to the Carriage House, the stables and an old Civil War encampment off from the side of the house. Apparently not much is known about the involvement of Civil War soldiers in the area but they do know that they had an encampment behind the house and even had a snowball fight on the lawn! They are still learning more about the soldiers time there though.

Doesn't everyone have giant stone lions on their front porch?

Three cabins from Civil War time; you could look in each to see the conditions. It just made me think of the end of Cold Mountain...

The stables - very pretty with the red doors!

Before we headed into the house for our tour!

So - Movern Park is best known for being the home of Virginia governor Westmoreland Davis; he was governor from 1918 to 1922, you can only serve one consecutive term as governor in Virginia - Virginia is the only state that has this law in place. The house was originally built as a small farm house in 1780 and was gradually added onto until it became the colossal house you see in the pictures - when the Davis family bought the house in 1903, they did little renovations as the family who owned it from 1900 to 1903 spent so much money renovating and modernizing the house, that in 1903 they went bankrupt and had to sell it! Ironic, right?

Mr. Davis & his wife were very into fox hunting & held hunts often on their estate.

So - you weren't supposed to take pictures inside the house but I took a sneaky shot or two (or three) without any flash, you see. I didn't want to damage anything...I just really wanted a picture or two. :)

The billiard room...minus the billiard table.

Fun story about the propeller over the fireplace - my Dad asked about it. Westmoreland Davis was the first governor of Virginia to fly! He agreed to take a flight in an airplane to ensure other people that flight was perfectly safe and no one need fear taking a little spin through that air. The landing of his "very safe" flight was extremely rough and in the landing, the propeller of the plane came off and cracked - and so they gave Mr. Davis the propeller as a memento of his trip! There is plaque on the right side of the propeller that says just that, even though it's horribly faded and on the left side, you can see the crack in the propeller!

A tapestry on one of the walls - they traveled extensively!

One of a set of two mirrors with the Imperial Hapsburg crest on them; again a souvenir of world travels.

The beautiful view from the bedroom(s) upstairs. 

Looking out onto the lawn from the second floor rooms - everything is so lush & green!

As I mentioned above, the Mr. Davis and his wife were very interested in fox hunting and would hold hunts frequently - once we finished the tour of the living area of the house, there was another section devoted to fox hunting that we walked through to conclude our tour. All I could think was "bless those poor fox; being hunted by hounds must be slap terrifying!" I guess to each his own, though seeing I'm not even remotely a fan of being on a horse, I don't see myself being wildly intrigued at the thought of going fox hunting anytime soon.

A rug with a fox hunting scene stitched onto it...pretty cool.

A rug in one of the rooms - each square was cross stitched by hand & let me tell you, it wasn't a small rug. It was amazingly detailed though!

Stained glass windows in the house's stairways. 

The house used to have towers on either side - reminiscent of a castle. The house is already insanely impressive; can you imagine how it would look with towers?

Just chilling on the porch with one of the lions...like you do...

Such a grand house!

Movern Park selfie!

The house also had gardens, so we wandered through those as we walked back toward the parking lot. Mr. Davis and his wife are buried in a mausoleum in the gardens and we stopped to take a peek at that as well. We were surprised to find a picnic laid out near the fountains and wondered just who would be having a romantic supper in such a lovely spot - maybe someone was even going to be proposed to? Who knows! I do know that Movern Park holds weddings and I'm sure an engagement there would be just as lovely.

Goodbye beautiful house...

A butterfly in the garden - there were plenty of butterflies drifting around.

One of the walkways through the garden.

The mausoleum for the Davis' & Mrs. Davis' mother - in the middle of the boxwood garden.

Flowers in the boxwood gardens.

A hidden hedge pathway!

A lovely spot for a picnic....

So - another Sunday afternoon spent seeing even more of the sights Virginia has to offer. I just wonder what we'll get up to in the coming weeks? I'm not sure what we'll do, but I do know there is plenty still to be seen and done!

An Afternoon Step Back in Time

Saturdays are arguably the best day of any week - right? I certainly think so; since most of the time Saturday lies ahead of us like an open book, waiting to be explored. Living in this part of the country I've come to find that there is no end of places to explore as long as there is time...ha; finding somewhere to go is never hard, it seems finding the time to go see the place is more difficult!

This past Saturday afternoon once I came home from work and my Dad also came home from work, we decided we'd go try out a restaurant that my parent's had heard about but never been to - John's Family Restaurant in Rippon, West Virginia...which happens to be only about 30 minutes from where we live! The place looked like an absolute hole in the wall but as I've learned, sometimes those are the best places to eat and John's was certainly no exception - the food was delicious! My Mom may have mentioned two or three times that her steak was one of the best she'd ever eaten, so John's got a check on the list of places we'd all like to come back and eat!

We ate early on Saturday; we were done by about 5:30 and decided since Harper's Ferry was only about 15 minutes more up the road and there was still at least a good two and a half to three hours of sunlight left, we'd take a ride up the road and wander around.

A lovely house...but I can't imagine carting groceries up those steps!

Harper's Ferry is a town situated on the convergence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers...which I decided to call the Shenomac River...or Potoandoah River...you decide. It's been a town since it was established way back in 1763 and served as a US armory for some time; it's probably best known for the raid that abolitionist John Brown led on the armory in 1859 which ended rather disastrously. It also played a part in the Civil War; there was a battle there on September 13th that went on for two days before ending; it also changed hands eight time in the four years that the Civil War raged, being located on the rivers provided the town with strategic position...much to the tragedy of the town and it's people.

The town became a National Historic Park in 1944 and still serves as that today. It has historical exhibits as well as restaurants, shops that cater both to today's time period and eras long past as well as a multitude of bed and breakfasts located in houses that have seen more history than I can imagine. Outdoor activities are also popular in the area - canoeing, rafting, fishing and hiking - which I'd like to partake in some other time!

An outdoors shop - with a sign that looks like it dates back just a few years, ha-ha!

Some of the building in Harper's Ferry...no doubt made to look like you've been plopped down in the middle of the 18th century!

The Stone House Bed & Breakfast - also a restaurant!

I wandered down an alleyway between some houses & stumbled onto this scene...

The General Store in the distance...

We wandered in and out of shops - my Mom and I found a new favorite store that sells nothing but fair trade items and was immensely fascinating! I plan to do some Christmas shopping there...so someone might be getting a belt made our of an old tire, ha-ha! The most unique thing we saw as we wandered around was certainly the woman and her daughter who were walking their pet goat on a leash...yes, a goat on a leash. There were no words! It seemed that quite a few people had the same idea as we did; the town was positively bustling with people as they strolled in and out of shops, ordered some frozen custard from one of the multiple ice cream shops and pored over the historical markers.

Outside the "hotel" in Harper's Ferry!

I don't even know what kind of crazy pose I was going for here...I'm not right...

We went down to the edge of the river(s) and walked across the bridge that stretches over the river and disappears into the mountainside - the Amtrak still runs through the town and uses the same bridge to go to and fro. I've yet to be on the bridge when a train whizzes past but I can imagine it's quite the experience. It was a warm afternoon and there were plenty of kids splashing around in the river as well as fisherman, rafters and the occasional canoe that passed under the bridge as we stood and looked over the sides.

Down the river(s) they float...

Can you spy the fisherman?

This bridge was constructed in 1893 - I only hope it's been repaired a few times since then...

Looking across one railway track to another, located a bit further up the river.

The town of Harper's Ferry from across the water!

Staring down into the water from high above on the bridge!

It's hard to tell but there were two kids on the island & they were having the time of their lives - putting aside the question of where there parents might be, I witnessed how vivid their imaginations were as they acted out all kinds of scenarios from their perch on the rock...

Do you see the really large fish??

There was a lock here & there on the bridge - people seem to be trying to make this bridge similar to the one in Paris.

As I mentioned - there is actually a good bit to do here in this sleepy little town and one of the things is to hike to the top of the rock outcropping located on the opposite side of the river from the town. My Dad has done just that before and I've seen the pictures of the awesome views. We didn't do that this time, since the hike is (I believe) at least over a mile and no one really wants to be in the woods after dark...I mean, I know I don't. We did see people sitting on the rocks high above the river and I'm certain the next time I go, that will be on my list of things to do!

The bridge disappearing into the rock face...we'll have to climb up next time!

The town viewed as you come off the bridge!

A tunnel under the bridge...leading to?

Another look at some of the historical buildings...

I took quite a lot of pictures - hence the post dedicated solely to our afternoon activity. I knew that they wouldn't all fit if they were added to another post, ha-ha!

The Captain's offices...or something of the sort...everything is themed as if you've stepped back in time about 200 years!

Care to buy anything from the General Store? They've got plenty to choose from.

Another building...looking all historical...

The Catholic church located high atop the hill.

My Dad & I made the short climb up to the church - it was already closed but I'll take a peek inside next time!

The sun begins to set on the little town of Harper's Ferry!

Imagine climbing those steps in the dark...eek!

I loved this little sign for the Stone House - so cute!

One of the restaurants in the town - I loved all the umbrellas dotting the porch!

We finished our wanderings around the town by stopping on the walk back to the car to get frozen custard. I got the vanilla and raspberry swirl and it was absolutely delicious. All in all, a wonderful way to end a splendid Saturday afternoon!

Delicious!