It's April 18th - and it's Snowing

It's actually now April 19th... but the phrase still stands because just thirty minutes ago, it was snowing. I mean sure, the sun has come out now but let's be honest - snow is not something you expect after mid-April, at least not in Virginia. Not even in Northern Virginia! *sigh* I'm getting ahead of myself.

See that moon? That moon is from Friday night - but yet again - I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

It was so so lovely to get to sleep in on Friday - an absolute gift! It's been a hot minute since I was able to sleep in and I was so thankful for a day with no real agenda! I mean, there was something of an agenda because my Mom and I wanted to go to DSW and look for wedding shoes - but that was the only thing on the agenda. And would ya'll believe it - we found the perfect wedding shoes! I certainly figured that it might be an uphill climb to find them but there they were - the perfect pair on the second aisle we walked down - VICTORY!

We had lunch at Out of the Blue where they had all things seafood related and Ryan was in absolute heaven, ha-ha! I just enjoyed smacking crabs with the mallet they gave Ryan... and while Ryan had me sample a clam and some crab, I won't be eating more of either any time soon. I told my sister that clam tasted like "ocean snot" and I stand by that description. We also popped into Hobby Lobby, Francesca's, Soma and Cabela's before heading home for the evening. We ended up having some Mexican food for dinner, opening our Easter "baskets" and watching The Chosen on Amazon Prime.

The Golden Egg (quite literally) in Ryan and I's Easter bags contained tickets to Elevation Nights - the opportunity to see Elevation Worship and hear Steven Furtick speak - which we are both thrilled about! Elevation Worship has some of the most incredible worship music and Ryan and I both have favorites that we love to listen to... and Steven Furtick is a gifted preacher and I know whatever he shares will be just what the Lord means for Ryan and I to hear. I cannot wait! We also got plenty of chocolates, jelly beans and beef jerky (Ryan - not me) and some precious bunny and carrot cookies!

 

 

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day - sunny and warm with a nice breeze - and so Ryan and I ended up checking out a craft bazaar at my parent's former church before washing our cars. I'll be 100% honest and tell you that Ryan did 70% of the washing and I helped with things here and there. Ryan loves to wash our vehicles and takes great pride in keeping them looking good... and he doesn't want to just take it through the drive thru car wash, ha-ha!

Ryan left for work around 2:30 and y'all - I am ashamed to say I didn't do a whole lot else all day on Saturday. I did run to meet up with him and change shoes (he wore the wrong shoes & so we needed to meet in the middle and make an exchange) but otherwise, I actually ended up just doing some things around the house: I put together some dishes for Easter lunch ahead of time & popped them into the fridge, started watching the show Anatomy of a Scandal, took a nice bubble bath and did my nails. Like I said - very productive!

Easter was the first holiday Ryan and I ever celebrated together and I couldn't resist sharing the picture from last Easter alongside this year's picture - the sun was right in our faces this year and it was hard to keep my eyes open! I cannot believe this is already our second Easter together - Ryan is truly such a gift from God, so I think it's perfect that the first holiday we celebrated together was Easter. Blessings on blessings, that's for sure!

 

After church service, Ryan and I headed to my parent's house to get everything in the oven for dinner - my parents had nursery in second service and so Ryan and I were at the forefront of preparing all the goods for the feast! We had ham, green beans, corn casserole, scalloped potatoes, cinnamon apples and rolls! It was delicious and was almost enough to put me in a food coma - even without turkey!

The weather took a turn on Saturday night and so while it was sunny and gorgeous out on Easter Sunday - it was pretty chilly! I think the temperature hovered around the mid-50's and there was a pretty brisk breeze! After our big Easter meal, Ryan took a nap and my Dad wasn't feeling his best - so my Mom and I (after we both took naps too, ha-ha) loaded up Watson and drove over to the Arboretum and we were not disappointed with all the beauty in nature! 

 

The fields of daffodils were spreading out in bloom and there were flowers everywhere! Now yes - it was pretty brisk out, but Watson was absolutely enchanted and acted like a little pup again - bouncing to and fro through the grass, taking in the sunshine and green grass. It was wonderful! We spent about 30 minutes enjoying the sunshine and then headed back home to have leftovers for dinner and get ready for the week ahead.

And then - in an act of sheer defiance on Monday, I read the weather forecast and decided to wear my Easter dress to work with ballet flats anyway. Eight hours of snow later, I was glad my lovely fiancé reminded me to take my boots to work with me. What in the world is this weather???