It's Been Two Years!

Monday once more - and also the anniversary of my move to Virginia! Last year I was very dramatic about it; I dedicated an entire post to it, this year I guess I'll keep things a little bit more low key. I guess by low key, I mean I'll just start this post by mentioning I've been a Virginian for two years now and I hope I can be a Virginian for many more years to come! 

Honeysuckle in bloom.

A souvenir from my travels...it's cute & it holds caffeine. Win!

The past week - the work week that is - passed pretty quickly and was mostly uneventful, which is how I like things to unfold! And here is where I level with you and tell you that this Monday; as opposed to last Monday, has been kind of...weird. I've been trying to write this post since almost 10:30 this morning and my brain can't settle...it can't focus on anything other than what it's stuck on. So this post may be wonky or sporadic or...I don't know....

Gorgeous skies on Tuesday evening...

My wee explorer, checking out the sights and sounds around the office...

My Mom and I met up on Tuesday after work and caught a showing of Alice: Through the Looking Glass that we both thoroughly enjoyed. I think I'd have enjoyed it better if my baked macaroni and cheese didn't have leeks in it...but then, as our waitress said, they were already mixed in...so no changing that! I brought Watson along to work with me on Thursday and he charmed everyone, which is what he normally does. He's just so darn cute and I know I'm slightly biased to him, but I did hear a co-worker whisper to him "you are the cutest dog ever...but don't tell my dogs I said that..." Ha! 

The work week seemed like it passed in a flash - I'm already feeling like June as a whole is passing in a flash. I stopped by my old place of employment and of course, they already have ornaments displayed. It all seems much too fast to me... Granted, that's neither here or there...the week passed and the weekend arrived, as it always does.

Wee flower that is still in water at the house...

The beginnings of what will become my "apartment"...

Friday night was very low key; we met some friends at my parent's house that is in the early stages of being built and then had dinner together. I spent a large chunk of my Friday night watching the Nationals game and then because I'm A) like an old lady and I need my sleep, B) had to get up earlier than normal on Saturday and wanted my sleep, or C) some combination of the two...I went to bed! And the answer is that I like my sleep and I knew I needed to be up around 8:00 at the latest and so I wanted all the sleep I could get, ha-ha!

I joined my parents for a trolley tour around the nearby town of Winchester - the area is rich in history and the tour was an interesting way to spend an hour. What was more interesting was the man on the tour that was obviously more than a little unhinged: everything was a little too fascinating, a little too funny, a little too...everything. He giggled like a maniac, ooohed and aaahhed every little history fact and mumbled facts to himself. He was definitely different - to put it mildly. After our tour, we had lunch at Brewbaker's on the Walking Mall and grabbed some dessert from a gelato place; especially refreshing since it was approaching 90 outside. Also - skinny jeans and 90 degree heat don't mix well!

Trolley tour & lunch with these two...

Vanilla Bean & Coconut Gelato - yes please!

The straw was supposed to be there...so says the photographer...

Saturday afternoon included....more baseball...of course! Saturday was really just the epitome of a lazy Saturday afternoon - I watched baseball, organized my closet (as much as possible) sat out on the deck in the sunshine, walked the dog in the scorching breeze and closed out the day with some grilling and an episode of Outlander. On a completely random note - does anyone else have a dog that loves to lay out in the blazing sun?? It was pretty scorching this weekend and Watson would alternate between laying on the deck in the direct sunlight for about twenty minutes, coming in and stretching out in the cool for a bit...and then repeating the whole thing. What a little weirdo.

A cookie for this little sweetie.

Summertime & the living is easy...

Sunday morning (and unfortunately Saturday morning) I woke up before 7:00 and couldn't really ever get back to sleep... It seems like when I have the opportunity to sleep late, it doesn't happen and when I can't sleep late...well then I could sleep for days! I joined my friend Margaret for church and afterwards had a mini Netflix marathon while eating lunch...and then I did something I haven't done in a long while: I took a Sunday afternoon nap!

I decided a bit later in the afternoon that I needed some form of amusement - just sitting around the house wasn't going to do for me and so I managed to finagle the family into climbing in the car for a little bit of an adventure. We paid a short visit to Holy Cross Abbey in the nearby town of Berryville...and while we couldn't actually see much besides the gift shop, there was a real live monk working in the gift shop...bald head, robes and all. I may have made a little bit of a fool of myself when I announced a little too loudly "oh look - a real monk" before I realized the door was actually open. Oops! 

Flowers upon flowers at the Nalls Farmers Market!

Holy Cross Abbey...part of the land at least; they also make chocolates. Talk about doing the Lord's work!

As we made our way back toward the house, I remember an old country store we'd visited before in the town of Millwood - I remembered pretty distinctly that they had macaroons and I really wanted one. We found the store and while they still had gorgeous chocolates, ornate ice cream sandwiches and some cookies and cupcakes that looked amazing...the macaroons were apparently a thing of the past. I settled for an Orange Cream cupcake and a Ginger Ale and went across the street to the Burwell Morgan Mill to munch on my goodies.

I also realized that almost two years to the day we'd visited the Burwell Morgan Mill and Locke General Store - it was one of the first random Sunday afternoon adventures we went on after I moved to Virginia. This realization meant that I had to persuade my Mom to snap a recreation of the photo taken two years ago...

Water flowing over from the mill...

I think I was wishing I could just walk through the creek at this point...

So peaceful & pretty...

Sunday ended with...wait for it....baseball! We watched the Nationals win the final of a three game set with the Phillies on a walk-off and get a sweep of the series; a decidedly lovely end to the weekend! Of course, Game of Thrones was in there too; there are only two episodes left of this season, which has been so much better than I expected it to be. 

And now here we are - at Monday once more. I do apologize if this post has been a bit scatterbrained...I feel a bit like my brain is scattered today, ha-ha! I leave you with my photo comparison from 2014 and 2016! Enjoy!

2014 & 2016